The Gift
by ClassicBeauty23
Summary: Chuck and Blair were high school sweethearts. Everyone thought they would be together forever. Some things change though and some people drift apart. It's Christmas and one fateful night will change everything for the young couple. UPDATE! 2/10/09! Chap 8
1. Chapter 1

The Gift

A/N: Hello everyone! So this is my new story and it means a lot to me! Haha I know that's cheesy, but it really does! Ok a little background on this story! So I got this idea from the movie Three Days which is played during the 25 Days Of Christmas on ABC Family! It's my favorite Christmas movie of all time! Oh so good! Haha! So since I love the holidays I decided I would write a little Chuck/Blair Christmas fanfic! I know brilliant right? Haha! Anyways this is AU since I just love writing those! Haha! Now to the readers of Getting Away From It All, the next chapter will be posted shortly! I know I promised Saturday for a new chapter, but I had to completely re-write it, but now I think I finally have it were I want it so be on the look out! On a side note, all the lyrics I will be using for the beginning of chapters will all be Christmas songs! Haha! Ok my lovely readers I hope you enjoy this story and please review it always means so much to me!! Much love!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Chuck and Blair belong to The CW and the plot is from the movie Three Days from ABC Family!

Summary: Chuck and Blair were high school sweethearts. Everyone thought they would be together forever. Some things change though and some people drift apart. It's Christmas and one fateful night will change everything for the young couple. AU Chuck/Blair.

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Oh, the ocean and the sky

They way we feel tonight

I know that it's the love that brings

The simple things to life

The sun, the moon, the stars

The beating of two hearts

I love the way the simple things

The simple things just are.

-Rebecca Lynn Howard

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Blair Waldorf, twenty-eight and alone, well not alone by the wedding ring displayed on her left hand. It was busy in New York City this time of year. Everyone getting ready to celebrate Christmas that would be coming up in three short days. It was December twenty second and normally she would be with her husband buying their Christmas tree. Not this year though, this year her husband was nowhere to be seen.

She knew he had work to do, him being the new manager of a multi million-dollar company. She knew he had things to do, but most of all she knew he made himself busy. They had eloped right after high school on her eighteenth birthday. They had told their friends that they were taking a road trip, but they ended up getting married. Their friends were shocked to say the least.

Being married for ten years had been tough on them. They had been through many obstacles. The latest ordeal they had gone through though was his father dying. It had been hard on them. They had to fight till the last minute to save their marriage and in the end they had prevailed. They were fighting and inside she knew they were about to lose the battle.

Every year for Christmas, since they had been married they had the tradition of going to pick out their Christmas tree. This year though he had called and said he would be running late. It was really no surprise to her these days though. She had told him it was fine and he didn't even say love you to her anymore when they would hang up the phone. It use to affect her, but it did nothing of the such now. She hid the pain and she did it well because he couldn't even see it.

She walked up to their usual tree place and saw all the couples picking out their tree. She looked down at herself in her usual attire. Jeans and a nice heavy coat nothing special to him she guessed.

"Hello Mrs. Bass. How are you today? No Chuck?" Mr. Carlson was the man who owned 'Trees For You,' he knew them well since they always came here.

She smiled at him. "He's running late he will hopefully be here later."

The man of about seventy years old gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm sure he will be here. He's a good man."

She wish she could be sure of that, but she wasn't anymore. She loved her husband more than anything in the world. He had always been there for her and she him. When they had met there had been an instant connection. Their friends Dan and Serena, also high school sweethearts, always told them they would be together forever. She tried to smile back on the memory, but couldn't. Dan and Serena who had been married less years than them had everything she thought her and Chuck would have had by now. They had two darling children who her and Chuck were godparents of. Mark, who was eight and Elise, who was seven. In Blair's opinion they were precious.

Chuck and her had discussed kids many times and every time he would say that it wasn't their time. Blair knew that Chuck didn't want kids and it secretly killed her. Maybe he did and just never showed it, but somehow she knew he didn't.

"Yea, he's great," she finally responded.

"Well tell me if you need any help with the tree," the old man said as he walked away to help another couple.

She looked around at all the trees. There were to many to choose from in her opinion. She walked past all the trees in the front and went straight to the back. The trees in the back never got a home for Christmas and her and Chuck always made sure to pick from the back. The tree that she picked this year probably couldn't even be qualified as a tree, but she liked it. The tree was sparse and not many people would even want it in their home, but she knew this was her tree.

She walked with the tree up to the cashier were Mrs. Carlson was. The old lady smiled at her and she gave her a bright smile back. She could tell the Carlson's had been married for years. In her mind she didn't even know if her and Chuck would last another year.

"Blair Bass it's so lovely to see you this year."

"You too Mrs. Carlson. How's Buttons these days?" Blair asked knowing their dog was a huge part of their lives.

Mrs. Carlson smiled almost shocked that Blair could always remember. "Oh she is just wonderful. Thank you for asking. Where is Chuck this year?"

"Um he's working late. I thought he would be here, but I guess he couldn't make it." She responded putting forth her best smile.

"Oh what a shame. I just love seeing you two. Why don't you take the tree. A Christmas gift from us."

"Mrs. Carlson I couldn't." Blair said.

"Yes you can and you will. Now go home and decorate and tell that husband of yours I say hello."

"Thank you so much and I will." Blair said with gratitude.

She took the tree and walked away from the tree stand. The air was bitter cold and she was glad she had worn a scarf and gloves. She knew it would be a while before she got home and somehow she was glad. She wanted to be alone for a while. She also somehow didn't want to go home and fight with her husband. Yes, this is why she was in some ways alone.

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His office was huge and spacious. He spent Monday through Friday here and sometimes half his weekends would be spent here. His office had three windows, per request, that looked over much of New York City. In his office there was not much furniture. There was a desk that held a Mac computer and a single framed picture of his wife, Blair. Across from the desk where he sat there were two chairs where business deals were usually made. His office didn't offer much and that's the way he liked it.

He was the new manager of Bass Industries. His father had left him the place to his surprise. He had taken over two years ago and had recently put the company back at number one. He was proud of himself that he had taken his company so far. The industry had grown into many branches and he was looking to further extending them. His next stop was Chicago.

"Listen, Peter is it? This is exactly what you need. Great. Yea, I can arrive tomorrow morning. No Christmas plans. Okay see you then." Chuck said as he ended the phone call.

"Impressive Bass," Vanessa commented.

Vanessa Abrahams had been his second hand since June. She had come wanting to know how to handle the business world and he was pretty sure she had learned it all in a few short months.

"I know." He responded to her earlier statement.

"I am actually surprised that the great Chuck Bass doesn't have Christmas plans. Is this how you spend all your Christmas's in business deals?" Vanessa questioned.

Chuck showed a soft smile towards her. "Uh, no actually I usually spend it with my wife," he said while looking at Blair's picture on his desk.

They had spent every Christmas together. As husband and wife they had always gone Christmas tree shopping together on this night, but he had missed it this year for the first time ever. He knew she would be upset and it hurt him inside to think that he left her, but he had to get this business deal worked out.

Since his father had passed he knew they had been drifting further and further apart. They fought constantly and he had gotten tired of it. This being the main reason he spent most of his days at the office. He wished they didn't have the constant fights, he wished they could go back to a time when they were happy, but he knew it would never go back.

"Why not this year? I hear you two are like high school sweetheart or something crazy like that."

"My marriage is none of your business or anyone else's," he said with an edge in his voice.

"Sorry, just something that I heard."

"It's okay," he said after a moment.

He pressed the call button to connect to the main office. "Carol, book me on a flight tonight to Chicago." He told the receptionist.

Vanessa looked at him, "Carol, book me too."

Chuck raised an eyebrow. "Really want to spend your time off at a business deal?"

"Yea, I want to learn everything I can and you are the one I know can make it all happen." Vanessa said smiling at him.

He looked at his watch that told him he missed one of there many traditions. He knew he needed to get home and he also knew that he would have to explain.

"That is true. Listen, I need to get home and pack, but I look forward to seeing you at the airport."

"Bye, Chuck," Vanessa said while walking out of his office.

He watched as she swaggered out and let out a long breath. He always knew she had a crush on him and he knew Blair would not be happy about her coming. He always had Blair's picture up for two reasons. One, to show Vanessa he was taken and two, to always look at her when he was having a bad day.

She was the love of his life and that would probably never change. Even though they fought he always knew in the end they would come through. Lately though he doubted everything they had built together. It scared him in ways no one would ever understand, not even her.

Thinking about all this he got up from his leather chair and walked out of his office. He traveled down the elevator stopping to wish a couple of people happy holidays and then headed out onto the busy streets of New York. The wind was cold and bitter and he knew he had a long way to walk. He needed the long walk though to clear his mind. He knew he would have to let her down like he had been doing lately and wondered why she always put up with it. He knew in his mind it was simply because she was a better person than he would ever be.

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She was almost home and she was glad. Snow had started to fall and she could feel the Christmas spirit in the air and she could feel the smile on her face. Besides the fact that her husband had been a no show she was still happy that they would have Christmas together. He had told her earlier in the week that he would be taking off from work and she hadn't been that happy in months.

She came around the corner to where they lived. They lived in a small building in the Upper East Side of New York City. From where she was turning the corner she saw her husband also turning the corner on the other side of the street. He was on his cell phone like he always was and she had to let out a frustrated huff.

"Yea, no I have the flight booked. It leaves in two hours. Yes, Vanessa is going with me. I don't know she wanted to see how to deal. No sorry I won't be in the office on Christmas, I promised my wife. Okay, see you then," Chuck ended the phone call and saw Blair across the street. He looked before crossing and quickly made his way over to her.

"Hey," he said not knowing how to start the conversation.

"Hi," she responded.

He looked at her and she had never looked more beautiful. She had a certain glow around her and he knew many men could only wish to be with her and somehow he was the lucky one.

She looked at him actually surprised to see him this early at night. He looked tired and somehow handsome at the same time. His messy hair only added compliments to his amazing bone structure, the bone structure that she knew made many women go crazy for.

"Is this our tree?" Chuck asked while staring at probably the ugliest tree he had ever seen.

Blair gave him a look, "yes, this is our tree. Do you not like it?" She asked even though she knew he had absolutely no authority to judge since he had not gone with her.

"Oh, uh yea it's fine," he saw her face go down. "Really Blair it's good." He said while taking the tree from her.

He carried the tree up to the door of the building and opened the door for her. They had three flights of stairs to go and he didn't know if he could make it. The tree was giving him splinters all over the place.

"Lily come back here," Blair and Chuck heard their neighbor, Ms. Brady yell from up the stairs.

"I got her Ms. Brady," Blair answered as she picked up the small dog.

Chuck rolled his eyes. Blair was too good for her own good. Blair had a different job every day and all of her work did something better for the world. He didn't even know where she was half the time because of her busy schedule. One day it was working at the shelter and another day it was helping kids with disabilities.

"Chuck the tree goes in the living room," she said while taking Lily back to Ms. Brady, the ninety year old who lived on the same floor as them.

Chuck walked into their place. It was big for the building they lived in. They had lived in the same place for all of their marriage. They had fallen in love with the place the first time they saw it. The kitchen was set off to the side where Blair spent most of her time. The living room consisted of three chairs and one huge couch. There was a long hallway that led to their room plus another bedroom. They had one bathroom, which connected, to their bedroom.

He looked around the living room and put their tree in the usual spot, right by the window that looked out onto the city. He saw Blair come in and shut the door behind her. She had looked pissed off and cold when he had caught up to her. He knew when he told her about the trip she could possibly hate him for life.

"Have a good excuse for not coming this year?" She asked. She tried to sound like she was joking, but Chuck knew it came out colder than she wanted it too.

"I got caught up," he responded.

Blair nodded. "At least we can decorate our tree together." She said smiling at him. "Do you remember where we put the decorations from last year?"

He took her in and could tell that she really wanted him here. Maybe he was the one giving up on her and somehow that thought killed him. He knew he needed to go to this business deal though for the sake of many things. This deal his dad had been working on for many years and had never gotten to finish. Chuck was determined to finish it for him.

"Yea, I think I put them in the closet in our room. Listen, Blair I need to tell you something." He said not looking at her and focusing all his attention on the tree.

"Okay what is it?" She asked concerned.

"You know that business deal that my father had been working on for years?" Blair nodded. "Yea, uh the deal is going through and I am set to leave out at eleven sharp."

"Tonight?" It was now Chuck's turn to nod his head. "Chuck its Christmas." She tried to protest.

"Not for three whole days," he said trying to reason with her. "I will be back on Christmas Eve."

She looked at him and knew this had always meant a lot to him. She just had to wonder if she meant nothing to him anymore. She knew that wasn't true though. At least they hadn't fought yet tonight. That was definitely a step up from were they usually where at this time.

She gave in. "Okay," she said defeated.

He looked back while going to pack his things. He could see she looked sad about the revelation about him not being home to celebrate with her. He had to keep reminding himself about the deal though and how his father had wanted this.

He didn't pack much knowing that he needed to get on to the airport. He came back into the living room, bags in hand, and found her putting their ornaments on the tree.

"Looks good," he commented.

She turned to look at him and she knew he was ready to leave. This would be their first Christmas with them not together. She knew in her mind he would be back to celebrate really, but it still felt like they wouldn't be together somehow.

"Thanks, I guess you should be off now," she said after a moment.

He put his things down and slowly made his way over to her. He hadn't kissed her lips in a long time and he needed it. He took his right hand and cupped her cheek. Her head immediately formed into his hand. He lifted her head slightly and gave her a gentle kiss.

"I love you," he said after the kiss.

She paused a little from shock. She hadn't heard him say those words in days. It felt good and she welcomed it.

"Me too," she responded.

He turned away from her and grabbed his bags and shut the door behind him. He knew it was hard on her and he felt guilty for the things he had done to her. He kept walking to the cab though and never looked back.


	2. Chapter 2

The Gift

A/N: Hey everyone!! I hope everyone had an awesome day!! Now I am going to tell you my outline for the next couple of days!! I will try and have a new chapter of Getting Away From It All tomorrow and then on Thursday I will be updating both of my stories for a holiday treat. Now I say this, but those plans could change depending on how much time I get to write!! Haha! Ok now onto this chapter. Well first I would like to point out that in my mind I know Chuck would never hurt Blair intentionally. He's not like that AT ALL!!! I believe Chuck loves Blair and would never do anything that he knew hurt her. Now saying that this chapter in my mind is kinda out of character for him just in that sense, but at the end you can feel the love he has towards her. These first three chapters are just setting up for all the other stuff I have!!! So I just had to get that off my chest! Also the ending sequence is both of their POV'S it might seem confusing, but I really hope it's not! Haha! Now I would like to thank each and everyone of you that reviewed!! It means so much to me and I love each and everyone of you!! I hope you all continue to review!! Enjoy!!!

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So I'm sending you a little Christmas, wrapped up with love.

A little peace, a little light.

To remind you of how I'm waiting for you,

praying for you

I wanted you to see.

So I'm sending you a little Christmas.

Till you come home to me.

-Jim Brickman and Kristy Starling

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His plane landed at one in the morning and he knew he was jet lagged. All throughout the plane ride all he could think about was Blair's face when he had left her suddenly. Yes, the thought was horrible and he couldn't get it out of his mind. It hadn't helped either that a certain woman on the plane tried to talk the entire plane ride to him.

Vanessa had tried to make conversation about things he could care less about. She was only twenty-three so he could see why she was so naïve. He knew she just was out of sorts and thought about doing something that would never happen. It didn't help either that he had not informed his wife about her presence during the trip.

He knew he would be in deep shit if she ever found out which he knew he would probably never inform her about. This was another reason their marriage was falling apart. They had secrets from each other and it didn't help that not either one of them wanted to inform each other of things. It all started when his father had died and somehow he wished he could go back to the simple places where they were fine and nothing else mattered. Those times had been in high school and that was too long ago to even think about going back to.

Failing, as a husband was something he never wanted to do. When he was in high school and decided that Blair was the one for him he told himself he had to be sure so he would never let her down. He guessed that promise had only lasted ten years.

He took in a breath and decided he really needed to get some sleep for this long trip. He was starting to wonder why he had even come. In his mind he knew for his father, but his father was a distant memory where as Blair was still here for him. He turned over placing his hand on the empty side of the bed. He would usually have Blair in his arms at this time, but not tonight. Tonight he was alone and somehow that was okay with him.

When he had looked in her eyes he could see two things. He could see disappointment and despair. The disappointment he knew stemmed from him not being there with her for Christmas. The despair was something he knew they were probably both feeling. They knew there was no hope for them. They knew this and for some reason they both kept fighting. That lasting thought put him right to sleep.

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"You see this is why you need the company here. You need Bass Industries here. This will help you Peter and I think you know that."

The plan was not going so well. Chuck had been in the meeting over three hours now. He was not only running on very little sleep, but his mind was officially on overdrive. Peter, the person he was trying to sell to would not budge and it was aggravating him to no end. Peter the man who also looked like he wanted to eat you alive. He was huge, about fifty, and plain scary in Chuck's eyes.

"What I think Chuck is trying to say Peter is that Bass Industries is an opportunity for not only the city, but for you as well." Vanessa tried to put in her good word.

Peter looked at Chuck for the response. "Yes not only for the city, but for you. Bass Industries has many branches. We specialize in not one thing, but many. Now I oversee the business part while I have many other people actually working the part."

He was coming up with things right out of his ass. He had no idea what he had just said. Vanessa looked at him knowing he needed help.

"Peter, Chuck here is more of an entrepreneur in ways. He has made this company or industry grow into something much more than he even his father could have hoped for. This is what you need and I think you know that so why not just sign the deal?" Vanessa questioned.

Peter looked between the two.

He paused.

"I might be interested." He finally concluded.

Chuck smiled. "I thought you would be." He then smirked knowing this had gone somewhat well.

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"I have to give you credit. You were great in the meeting." Chuck said to Vanessa who sat across from him.

The meeting had finally concluded and Chuck couldn't of been more relieved. Peter had finally agreed to work with Bass Industries and he was proud. Finally his father's dream was going to come true. It didn't matter that he was not alive anymore, but that his dream was being lived out.

Chuck was also glad Vanessa had come on the trip. She had been a huge help in the meeting and he couldn't show enough gratitude towards her.

"Your welcome. I'm just glad he found all my Wisconsin stories funny." She replied laughing.

"Yea I never knew you grew up in Wisconsin." He said while taking a sip of wine.

She blushed. "I didn't."

He raised an eyebrow. She was learning. He was beginning to see how her business skills were different than his. They both worked in the same way though.

"Well you're learning."

She looked at him and smiled. "Do you remember our last business trip?" She asked.

He thought of their last trip. They had gone to Los Angeles, California to make a deal with a young new owner, Jack Smith. Jack was working in the oil field and needed a good deal. They had all stayed in the same hotel. Him in his respective room, Vanessa in hers, and Jack in his. At eleven at night he had heard a knock on his door, which ended up being Vanessa needing a washcloth. He didn't see it, but Jack had been watching the whole thing and the next day in their meeting he had accused them of having a sexual relationship. Yes, that had been quite a trip.

"Don't even get me started on that one." He answered laughing.

"The sexual relationship always makes me laugh." She smiled.

"He never believed you were coming for a washcloth."

"Well, he was right." She flirted.

He blinked. He needed the check or more wine he didn't know which. He had always known that Vanessa might have had a little thing for him, but he never took it seriously. He tried to be nice and do his work, but somehow she always helped him with all the business deals. She was always there and sometimes she would even help him in ways that no one had ever done. He was thankful for that.

He tired to play dumb. "Right about what?"

She took a sip of her wine. "I never needed the washcloth. I came to see you."

"Oh." That's all that came out.

"Do I need an excuse tonight?" She asked looking him in the eyes.

He couldn't answer the question. He had a wife and messing around with a young woman was something he didn't want to get involved in.

"Not tonight."

Somehow he couldn't resist.

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He had been gone for a day and she missed him in some ways. When he had gone to California about three moths ago he had been gone for two weeks. She hadn't even missed him that much then, but for some reason she needed to hear his voice.

Maybe it was because they were in a place in their marriage that she didn't want to be in. They fought and fought and maybe she just wanted to talk how they use to. They use to talk like they didn't have a care in the world about anything. In high school she would always tell him news right when she heard it. Serena would be the second to know, while Chuck would be the first. Now it took days for her to get the courage to talk to him. Was it right to be afraid to talk to your husband?

She wasn't afraid in the since of being in the same room with him she was afraid to confide in him. She needed to tell him things that were going on, but she couldn't. She was scared of the things he would say or how he would take them.

She looked at the tree that was the only thing in their living room producing light. She had a stack of books she planned on reading, but her mind was only thinking of Chuck. She had his number right by her and she was tempted to dial. She just wanted to talk how they use to. She didn't want to fight. She just wanted to talk.

She dialed.

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He was in the bathroom of his hotel room with his door shut. Vanessa had made it up to his room and she was waiting on his bed. The bed where he had previously only thought of his _wife. _His wife, the girl who had been his wife for ten years. The girl who had been his girl for more than thirteen years. Now he had another girl on his bed.

He had told her to come up and now he wanted nothing to do with her. He had never wanted anything to do with her ever. He only had eyes for one girl. That one girl was probably sitting on their couch and reading. The one girl who he had left because he had to do a damn business deal. He was a jackass and as he looked in the mirror that's all he could think about was what he had done to his _wife._

"Are you almost done?" He heard her yell.

"No, give me a couple of minutes." He yelled back to her.

He turned the water on hoping this would spare him a couple more minutes. He looked down at his wedding ring. It was a plain gold band that stayed on his finger all the time. The band he gave her matched his. They both had engraved _love you till the end_. Yet here he was about to do something that would tear them apart forever.

He heard the phone ring and Vanessa answer it. He knew it was probably the hotel service seeing what they could bring him tomorrow. He looked back to the mirror. He couldn't do this. Not only could he not do this to Blair, but also he couldn't do this to himself.

He had to go out and tell her to leave immediately. He didn't want to be near her right now. He wanted to be alone and think about what he could of done.

He walked out and stood by the doorframe. She was on the bed and trying to look sultry. That look only could turn him on if Blair was supporting it.

"Hey," that's all he could form.

"Your hands must be very clean." She said after hearing the water run for about twenty minutes.

He looked down. "Vanessa I don't think this is a good idea."

"Why second thoughts?" She questioned honestly.

He looked at her not wanting to hurt her in anyway, but knowing he had to. "I just don't think we should get involved. I mean I'm married." He said knowing that was the true reason he couldn't do anything.

She took in what he said and immediately got off the bed. "So is this some kind of news to you. You've been married this whole time." She was trying to compose herself.

"Look Vanessa I'm sorry. I mean you could get any guy-"

"Chuck it's fine. I knew you wouldn't do it." She fumed while slamming the door.

He watched her retreating figure. He let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding in.

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"Hello." The voice was Vanessa.

She couldn't breathe. She felt like she was going to throw up and keep on doing it.

"Hello?" She heard her say again.

She hung up the phone. Vanessa was in her husband's room. Her husband the one that was suppose to protect her from everything. The husband that was suppose to love her unconditionally. The husband that was possibly cheating on her.

She jumped off the couch and ran straight to the bathroom. She felt the remains of her stomach come out and she couldn't be more thankful. She knew there could be two reasons for this, one the obvious and two something way more unnerving. This made her clutch her stomach more.

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He arrived back in New York as planned. Eleven o'clock and all he wanted to do was go in and sleep next to his wife. He hadn't seen her in three days and it was almost Christmas. Christmas his father had always told him was family time. He guessed this year his fathers work had taken over what he should of known all along.

He got out of the cab and looked up to see if there was any activity in their apartment. He thought he would see the Christmas tree lights, but all he saw was darkness. He walked up the three flights of stairs with roses he had picked out at the airport.

When he opened the door he noticed all the lights were off besides the lamp by their coat rack. He put his bags down and looked around. She was sitting in the living room. Her hair was in soft curls, which he loved. She was wearing a big white sweater and jeans, beautiful in everyway.

She stared at him. Surprised she could even be in the same room as him. She didn't want to look at him and she wanted to hit him so he could maybe feel half of what she was feeling.

"Why are you in the dark?" He asked looking around and starting to come closer to her.

"Don't." She answered while getting up from the couch.

"Blair-"

"I heard her. I heard her voice. Is that what you do on your business trips?" She cried.

"What are you talking about?" He knew exactly what she was talking about, Vanessa's voice. He remembered the phone ringing and him thinking it was room service.

"Don't lie to me." She screamed.

She tried to get away before she felt his arms come around her. She hit him and hit him with all of her force.

"Stop. Blair stop. I didn't lie to you. She came to my room to talk. I was in the restroom when you called." He lied while he yelled back at her.

She broke away from his embrace not wanting him to touch her.

He whipped his head around to find her putting her coat on.

"Blair where are you going?"

"Merry Christmas." She responded while slamming the door behind her.

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He looked at the door and sighed. He threw his head back and let out a breath. This had been their worst fight. When she had started hitting him he felt the pain in her hits. He felt everything she felt. So he did the only thing he knew to do. Run after her.

She exited the building. The air was chilly and she regretted going out. She should have just sent him away. When she had slammed the door she had waited to see if he would come right after her. He never did. So she walked as far away as she could.

She turned the corner wanting to cry and scream. She let out a muffled cry and it didn't help her anger though. He had hurt her more than she ever thought he would. If he knew it was her why didn't he call back? Why didn't he want to be with her anymore? This thought made more tears fall.

He slammed the door shut. He walked at a fast pace trying to catch up with her. He didn't know which way she went so he guessed and took a right. He walked by all the buildings that looked larger than life. He needed to punch something. He didn't cheat on her and in his mind he knew he had never even thought about it.

She kept walking not looking back. She couldn't look back at what had happened. She knew once she could clear her head, her final decision would be to not be with him. She couldn't be with him knowing what he did. She walked farther until she saw Lily, the dog of Ms. Brady. She knew she was probably worried to death with her dog missing.

"Lily, come here girl," Blair clapped her hands.

The dog didn't budge one bit. Blair walked closer and all the dog did was run in the street. She walked onto the street scooping the dog up.

Chuck saw her and she had that stupid dog with her. He was frustrated beyond believe with her.

"Blair what are you doing. Get over her." He said hoping she would come.

He stopped dead in his tracks. Car lights.

"Blair look out." He screamed with everything he had.

She heard him and let the dog go. She didn't have time though to get away because the car came at full speed and full force.

He saw what he knew would be forever in his mind. He felt the wind knocked out of him when he saw her laying there and unconscious. He ran to her as fast as he could and took her in his arms.

"Blair come on. Hold on. Hold on for me." He whispered in her ear.

The man that hit her came running out and Chuck frantically told him to call 911. It all turned into a blur because he knew it felt like his heart was ripped out and crushed into pieces.


	3. Chapter 3

The Gift

A/N: Hey everyone! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! I planned to have this up earlier in the day, but then I started writing a chapter to Getting Away From It All and got very distracted! Everyone who is reading both stories the new chapter to Getting Away From It All will be posted tomorrow! I just have to re-read it once more! I would like to give special thanks to Lynne and Bloomer for being awesome beta's!! You guys rock! And all the lovely girls at FanForum I am so happy to be apart of the great community known as the Ed Board! Ed wayyy too sexy for words! Anyways I hope everyone enjoys and please review!

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I don't want a lot for Christmas

There's just one thing I need

I don't care about the presents

Underneath the Christmas tree

I just want you for my own

More than you could ever know

Make my wish come true

All I want for Christmas is...

You.

-Mariah Carey

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11:58.

To most people it was just a time, but to him it meant so much more. To him, it was the marked moment, the exact moment that the love of his life had been hit. She'd been hit by a car, and it was the moment he knew his life would mean nothing if she weren't here with him

It had been an hour since he'd last seen her. Since then the image had replayed in his head so many times he didn't think he could see it again, but then it would come again making him feel even more guilty. He wasn't just guilty because he hadn't gotten to her quicker; he was guilty for more things than even he could count.

He placed his head against the wall. For the last hour all he had been doing was spinning his wedding ring around and around. The medics had given him her ring. He had placed her ring in his pocket not knowing where else to put it. He took it out every five minutes though wishing that he could see it placed back on her finger.

He took her ring out one more time just wanting to see it again. Before he had put it on her finger as a symbol of their marriage she had been a Waldorf. She was now a Bass and had been for ten years. He hadn't been treating her like a Bass though lately. All he had been doing was treating her like something that meant nothing to him. He promised himself he would never do that again if he was given a second chance.

A second chance was all he needed. One more chance to prove how much he loved her. He never doubted his love and he hoped that she knew that. He hoped that she knew how much he truly loved her. He never once thought about cheating on her. He might of asked Vanessa to come into his room, but in his mind he had never truly thought about doing anything.

He watched as he saw a young couple come into the hospital. They looked to be in their late teens maybe early twenties. From what he could tell it looked like the girl had a towel wrapped around her hand. The man what he presumed to be her boyfriend was comforting her as best as he could. He looked at them and could tell they were in love. He wondered if people could tell him and Blair were in love?

His thoughts were interrupted by a voice saying his name. He looked up to see a woman in scrubs coming towards him. He had seen the woman before when she had him sign a release form concerning Blair's condition.

"Mr. Bass?" The woman asked, approaching him.

He nodded. He didn't trust himself to speak hardly, but the questioned he wanted answered most, somehow came out.

"How is she?"

The woman looked sympathetic. Something he usually didn't like to see in people. He didn't mind today though because all he needed to know is if his wife was okay.

"Let's go in here." She pointed to a room.

The room looked dark. Probably the room where they gave you bad news, Chuck concluded. He forced himself to walk behind her though. He didn't know how he was making it, but he coped. His hand went into his left pocket where he had placed her ring. He held onto it for dear life.

They entered the room and he finally looked up to meet her face.

"Mr. Bass, your wife had complications during the surgery. She suffered head trauma and she had a major loss in blood." The woman looked up before finishing. "I'm so sorry," was all she could form.

He took his hand out of his pocket. He placed his hand over his head wanting to be left alone. He felt a fresh batch of warm tears form. He turned around, not wanting the doctor to see his state. He took a breath in trying to recover from having the wind knocked out of him.

"You can see her now." The doctor said before he heard the automatic door close behind her.

He was left alone. Alone is what he would be like from now on. He couldn't think of a day that had been worst. This day definitely took the winning spot.

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He walked into the room that the doctor had pointed him towards. It was cold and gloomy. He saw her laying on the bed and he guessed they were ready to take her. Taking her away from him. They had promised each other to love each other till the end and here she was leaving.

Thinking back to the past months he knew he should have been better to her. He had done so much shit to her that he knew he wouldn't of forgiven him either. He had put her through stuff that not even he would want to go through.

She looked pale. He knew it was from death, but in his eyes she was still beautiful. No other woman could ever compare to her in his eyes. He knew woman would try to and go after him once they found out the news, but he would never touch them or look at them. He promised himself, when he had walked into the room, that he would never marry again. He'd promised himself he would never love another woman besides _his_ Blair. No one would ever compare.

He took her hand in his and kissed it. It was cold, but the cold couldn't keep him away. He took in everything because he knew he would never be in her presence again. Her eyes were shut, but he still remembered the brown color that he would always get lost in. She looked peacefully and he was glad. When he saw her hit he saw her look at him and somehow he felt like she was apologizing to him. Maybe he was over thinking the look, but he knew she had somehow forgiven him. She might have forgiven him, but he would never forgive himself.

He took in her face. He remembered the first time he saw her and how she had always had the biggest smile on her face. He had been walking with Dan and Serena had come up to them and introduced them to Blair. He had wanted to date her the first time he saw her and so he did. He asked her out the day he met her and she had said yes. The date hadn't gone well because his limo had broken down, leaving them stranded on the side of the road. He had told her sorry a hundred times and she said it was fine. They walked to the nearest McDonald's were they sat the rest of the night eating.

Every time one of them wasn't able sleep they would always turn to the other and retell that story. He loved to hear it from Blair's view because he knew she had always found that night to be one of her favorites. He guessed now he wouldn't get to hear her tell the story. It would just be a distant memory.

He finally found his voice to speak. He couldn't stand this. Saying goodbye to her was killing him slowly inside. He didn't know how long he would last.

"What were you doing? Going out into the street for a stupid dog." He whispered.

He wanted to yell at her really. Yell that she should of just stayed in their apartment so they could talk. Yell at her for going out and going into the street. Yell at her because he wouldn't be able to wake up to her.

He put his head down still grasping her cold hand. He only had a short amount of time left with her. He didn't know what he was going to do. He had to plan a funeral for his wife. His _wife._ He had to call Dan and Serena, he had to call all of her work places, and he had….

That's when it happened. That's when he felt the tears streaming down his face. He took her hand in and pulled it too his face. He needed her. He couldn't live this life alone. He couldn't be with out her. He just couldn't.

"Mr. Bass?" He was startled by the voice. "I'm sorry, but we are going to have to ask you to leave."

He straightened his back. "Give me one more minute."

He couldn't see her, but she nodded.

He looked back at his wife. She would always be his wife. He would always wear his wedding ring because no other woman would ever quite touch him the way Blair Waldorf had.

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He decided to walk home knowing there wasn't any real reason to go there. He walked as slow as he could. He figured this is what he would be doing the rest of his days. Walking home as slow as possible. Some nights he figured he would go to a bar and drink away his problems, but he knew that's not what Blair would want him to do.

He was tempted to call Dan and Serena immediately when he got home, but he had decided against it because he needed time to wrap his head around the events of last night, and the events of the last months.

He remembered their first fight. It had been over something stupid, their dinner. He had worked a long night and all he had wanted was to go home and rest. She had wanted to go out and so they started to fight over something that seemed so insignificant now. She had ended up eating out, and him in, because they couldn't agree. At the end of the night though he had made his way to the restaurant knowing that she had probably had a rough day too. He remembered her smile when she saw him, something that he now knew he had taken for granted.

He walked by the newspaper stand, which told him he was steps from being home. He sigh knowing he didn't want to enter. All he truly wanted to do was be with Blair. He knew once he entered he would have another breakdown. He didn't even know if she knew that he loved her. This thought broke his heart in more ways than one.

He walked to the door that opened into the lobby of their apartment. The door was locked for safety reasons and he had always been glad. He'd liked the fact that not just anyone could walk in and when he was on business trips it always made him feel more comfortable in leaving Blair alone.

He got out his key and put the key in the door. Nothing.

The door wouldn't budge. He tried again.

Nothing.

He was pissed.

He looked around getting colder by the minute. This long black coat was not helping with the cold. He turned to the left where he knew you could go to an automatic machine that would sometimes work. He pressed the code that he knew would unlock the door.

107-208.

Nothing.

He seethed with anger. Wanting to pound his head into the door. He was about to when something in the background caught his attention. A locksmith.

He didn't want to talk to anyone really, but he knew this was the only way to get back to his apartment and sleep and hope this was all a dream. So he walked and crossed the street carefully.

He opened the door to find an empty room with keys galore. There were so many keys he couldn't even count them all. He looked around trying to be as civil as he could and not get aggravated by the lack of service.

"Hello is anyone here?" He asked to the empty room.

No one answered. He was tempted to leave until he heard a man's voice come from behind him.

"Sorry had to get this key," the unfamiliar voice said.

Chuck whipped his head around to find a man standing in an apron cleaning a key. The man looked to be about his age. He had light brown hair, blue eyes, a strong build, and a smirk planted on his face. He didn't like this guy.

"What's the rush?" The man asked.

Chuck looked at him. He didn't want to talk to this guy or have a friendly chat, but somehow his mind wanted him to know more about this guy.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Chuck asked with an edge.

"Your wife isn't there anymore so why go home?" The man held the key up making sure it was clean.

Chuck looked at him with an eyebrow raised. How did he know his wife wasn't there? He needed to get out of here.

"Uh, I think I must have just been using the wrong key. Thanks." He said while walking away from the counter.

He almost was to the door before some kind of force, he would never be able to explain, pulled him back and he was once more looking at the strange man.

The man smiled. "I'm Nate."

Chuck nodded not sure how he was able to do that.

"Chuck-"

"Bass. I know." Nate answered knowing full well who the great Chuck Bass was. "How does it fell knowing she will never be there again?"

Chuck blinked a couple of times wondering how this Nate character knew about his wife. He walked over to the counter and tried to form a sentence, but couldn't. He tried his best.

"First, how did you know my name and second I don't wish to talk about my wife." He definitely needed sleep. He was pretty sure he was delusional.

"I was sent to you. Why not? She was your wife after all. Ten years of marriage. That's a long time to be committed to someone."

_Sent to you. _That somehow was going over and over in his head.

"Sent to me? Like an angel?" He said while avoiding the other question.

Nate looked at the broken man in front of him. "Like an angel."

He laughed. He couldn't be here. This had to be a dream. The whole night needed to be a dream.

"Your lost I can tell. So what were you thinking? Letting that Vanessa in your room?" Nate dug a deeper whole.

"I didn't do anything with her. I love Blair. Always have." Chuck said letting his conscious take over and answer the question that he hadn't wanted to get out.

Nate nodded his head, finally breaking through the barrier.

"You know Blair died with a broken heart. Thinking you cheated on her. Always wanting kids and never getting them, I think you hurt her more than even you think." Nate walked to the backroom.

This guy knew nothing. Chuck was sick and disgusted with him. If he knew him as he said he did he would know that he would never cheat on his wife. It was fair to say that he had been completely dumb when he had invited Vanessa into his room, but he would of never have gone through with anything. He was meant for Blair and Blair only.

"Look," he started not remembering this guy's name.

"Nate."

"Nate. You know nothing about me or my wife for that matter." He said looking at the man.

Nate stared at Chuck in a daze at the man that wouldn't talk about his broken heart. "I know you better than even you do. You have a broken heart now and on you it looks like it hurts."

He couldn't believe this. Some 'angel' was telling him that he had a broken heart, which was true, but he didn't think people could actually see it. He looked back at this Nate guy feeling the need to punch him, but he couldn't something was holding him back.

"You could say that," Chuck finally responded.

Nate nodded finally seeing he was going to open up.

"Why did you do it?" Nate asked leaning on the counter.

Chuck walked closer to the counter, but not too close. "I did it because we were fighting and I clouded my judgment, but I never wanted to cheat on my wife. I would never do that."

Nate looked at him knowing he was serious. He leaned back up and stood staring at him knowing this assignment might be worth it.

"Why no kids?"

Chuck put his hands in his pockets; his left hand claimed her ring. He thought about the question not sure why he was answering all these questions that he would of liked to keep private. He had wanted kids with Blair. He wanted to be a better father than his and he wanted it all with Blair. Somehow though it was never the right time and even in the good times it was never the right time.

"Never the right time." He answered softly.

Nate nodded knowing he would answer that way. "What if I said I could bring her back?"

Chuck blinked wanting to not believe him, but also wanting to believe his every word.

"What do you mean bring her back?"

Nate smiled knowing he had his full attention.

"I can give you three more days with your wife. She will come back not remembering anything. You will remember everything," he said making sure Chuck understood this part.

Chuck couldn't wrap his head around this. "What do you mean?"

"Blair will get her life back, but the same accident will happen at the exact same time. 11:58 exactly." Nate said.

Chuck shook his head. "No! I won't let that happen!"

"You can't change this. If you do it will reverse everything."

"Reverse everything?"

"Listen, Chuck. Blair gets a second chance. You get a second chance to prove how much you love her. Isn't this what you wanted?" Nate asked trying to get this through Chuck's head. "If you try and keep her from her fate, then those days never happen."

Chuck listened carefully. Understanding everything this Nate guy was saying. He had a second chance with Blair, which was what he had asked for. If he stopped her from her fate then everything would be as it was now. She would die with a broken heart. Somehow he had been lucky and gotten a second chance. How he didn't know.

"How-" He needed to ask more questions, but Nate stopped him.

"Oh I almost forgot." Nate said feeling around for the key. He found it and tossed it too Chuck.

He threw the key to Chuck and he grabbed it effortlessly.

Chuck looked up from grabbing the key. He looked around at his surroundings and he was back at his apartment. He took the key and opened the door. The door opened without getting stuck. He walked up the three flights of stairs which he walked up every night and entered his apartment. He looked around the apartment and it was how they left it.

He walked down the long hallway to where their bedroom was. Every night after their dinner they would always go to bed together without fail. She would wrap her arms around him and ask him about his day. He told her about it usually getting grumpy and then when they entered their bedroom she would always lay him down and give him a message. That's what he needed right now. He needed Blair's arms to come around him and tell him everything was all right.

He took his coat off and threw it on the floor not caring if it looked messy in the room. He needed sleep. He knew it wouldn't come though because his life had changed in a blink of an eye. He put his flannel pants on and a plain white t-shirt because that was the only laundry that seemed to be clean.

He got on his side of the bed not wanting to touch her side because he knew she hated people on her side of the bed. He laid his head back onto his pillow and turned to her side. He stared at the empty side of the bed and prayed he would wake up to her. He wanted to believe it, but somehow he knew that this could be the rest oh his life. Alone and always thinking about her.


	4. Chapter 4

The Gift

A/N: Hey everyone! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Ok I need to get this off my chest! I had an anonymous reviewer say they couldn't finish!! If that reviewer has come back just to take a sneak peek or something I would like to say I am soo sorry for making you cry, that was not my intention! I am glad you enjoyed the story up until last chapter though! I really am sorry though! Ok so onto this chapter. I think you all will like it! Now I have some bad news, I am starting up school again on Monday, don't even let me start ranting about that, and this means I probably won't have updates as quickly!! I know isn't that sad!! I think sooo!!! Except Monday is Gossip Girl which means there will be Chuck/Blair scenes....maybe Monday isn't so bad after all!!! Nope still pretty bad besides Monday night! I will just daydream about that during classes on Monday!! Also a little mention! The town that I have used for their hometown is Mahone Bay and it's actually in Canada, but we are going to pretend it's in New York. So Mahone Bay equals hometown in New York! Haha! Ok now onto my special thanks! Courtney aka Bloomer(I know I call you that to much, but it's your nickname and I love it!) I would like to thank you for always answering my questions and reassuring me on things! Thank you so much for being the beta for this chapter and I am sure there will be many more to come!! Also, special dedication goes to Jackie and Cher for this chapter!! Some CB lovin for you lovely ladies! And to all the girls at FanForum you are all lovely! And also to the reviewers!!! You all are so awesome *hugs and kisses*!!! Ok this is turning into a rambling session!! I hope you all enjoy and please review!! I'm off....

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Bum bum bum bum bum

This is my winter song to you.

The storm is coming soon,

It rolls in from the sea

My voice; a beacon in the night.

My words will be your light,

To carry you to me.

Is love alive?

Is love alive?

Is love....

-Sara Bareillies featuring Ingrid Michaelson

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He woke up early. He usually wasn't an early riser, simply for the fact that he never had a reason to wake. He woke up this morning for the simple fact of hoping Nate would have granted him with her presence. He noticed he was turn to his side, he guessed he'd been fidgety in the night. He took his time to turn over hoping his body would find a smaller body wrapped up in the bed sheets. He turned and he was met with emptiness.

He sighed into his pillow, wanting to close his eyes again and try and go to sleep so he could once more pretend this was a dream. He had wanted to believe Nate and Nate had failed him. He raised his body up, knowing he would have to go to work, because there was no way he could stay in the house.

He put on his robe, the one that Blair had given him last year for Christmas. He hadn't worn it in a few months, but figured he needed something around him that reminded him of her. Walking down the long hallway was torture for him. The hallway had pictures everywhere of them. He had told her he didn't want pictures everywhere, but of course she had gone against him. He looked at each one remembering everything about them. The one with Serena and Dan, the one in their hometown of Mahone Bay, and of course their wedding picture.

He stared for a moment. He remembered proposing to her and the smile she had shown him. They flew out to elope, because she told him she didn't want to wait to be Mrs. Bass. He had agreed and they left, without a word to their friends. They found a small place to marry, a chapel where the preacher had agreed to do it on short notice. Yes, he could remember the day like it was yesterday.

When he saw her walk down the aisle he couldn't of been more nervous. The butterflies had formed and he couldn't get them to stop fluttering. The one request she had was that she had to have a wedding dress. When he saw the wedding dress on her he had been in a daze. She was absolutely stunning and no one in his eyes would ever be quite the beauty she was.

He walked away from the picture not wanting to shed any more tears. He knew he would though and he was pretty sure from now on he would at least shed a few every night. He walked to the kitchen where he hadn't been in a couple weeks.

Blair always made the breakfast. Once he had tried to make her breakfast in bed, but failed miserably with two burnt batches of pancakes. From then on she always did the cooking. He looked around trying to figure out something that he could possible eat. He went to the cabinets where he hoped there would be some good cereal choices, Special K, Kashi, and Whole Wheat brand. He rubbed his hand against his face. On the list of many things to do he now had to go to the grocery store.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a sound coming from the door. He looked and walked slowly over to see what was happening. He saw the doorknob turning and that's when it happened. He saw her. He saw his wife all buddle up with bagels and a newspaper. He blinked a couple of times to make sure this wasn't a dream.

"Honey, you're sure up early. Do you have a big meeting today?" She asked him.

He stared for a moment not responding to her questioned. He didn't know what to do, so he did the only thing he wanted to do. He took quick strides over to her and lifted her into the air and twirled her around. When he put her back on the ground he kissed all the places on her face.

She was surprised. She didn't expect that kind of greeting after all of their fights lately. Once he stopped kissing her face she looked at him. He looked genuinely happy to see her. She didn't have time to ask any questions though because the next thing she knew, his lips had captured hers in a deep and caring kiss.

He kissed her wanting to take in the moment. Their apartment door was still opened and hoped that no one came by to see their make out session. He really could care less though because he had his wife in his arms. He parted his lips from her because he really just wanted to stare at her for the rest of eternity.

She still had her eyes closed. She had never had a kiss like the one he had just given her. She felt his forehead connect with hers and she knew she had to be dreaming. Never had her husband been a romantic. She liked this change in him.

"What was that for?" She asked breathlessly.

He shouldn't have had to respond to that if he'd been a good husband to her, but he wasn't one. He was just an average one. He didn't do anything to make her love him more; no he did quite the opposite.

"I love you, you know that right?" He had to ask because he needed her to say yes. He needed it more than anything.

"Of course," he looked at her with questioning eyes. "I love you, Chuck Bass," answering not knowing what was going on with him.

She wiggled out of his grasp to go put the newspaper and bagels up. He walked right behind her, not wanting her to be out of his sight. She took out a bagel and handed one to him.

"You like plain right?" She asked.

He nodded not really caring about a bagel. He couldn't wrap his head around it. It had all been a dream, everything had been a dream. He let out a chuckle. He couldn't believe this.

She looked at him. "What's wrong?"

He smiled at her and then took his hands and grabbed her face and kissed her forehead. "Nothing. Everything is fantastic."

She had no idea what was going on, but she was secretly worried for her husband. Work, she knew it was getting to him. She nodded to him in disbelief.

"So what time do you want to go pick out our tree?" She licked the cream cheese off her index finger.

He turned his head to look at the living room. There was no tree. Their living room was plain.

"We haven't gotten our tree have we?"

She looked at him. "Honey, are you okay?" She reached up to feel his forehead.

"I'm great. I just had the weirdest dream, but I'm great now. I mean I have the most beautiful wife right here with me and.." he couldn't finish the sentence because he took to nibbling her neck.

"Okay?"

Her head was going back from the kisses he was giving her. She wasn't sure what was going on, but whatever it was she liked it. She had never seen him being so willing towards her. She liked this change and she hoped it could and would last.

"Hey," she turned towards him. "I was wondering if this was yours?" She asked holding up a key.

He paused the kissing and looked up at the key shown in front him. He knew he probably looked like a deer caught in headlights. He knew this key well, the key that Nate had given him. He wanted this to go away.

He gulped. "Yea."

She stared at him. "I really think you need some sleep." She laughed.

He noticed the paper she had brought in earlier and quickly looked at it. He read and was floored. December 22, 2008. Three days. He had gotten the three days back. He looked to see her eating her bagel and enjoying it. He thought he could handle these three days, but now he didn't know if he would be able to look at her.

He thought it had all been a dream. He thought the accident, Nate, and simply everything had been a dream, but he was wrong. He took breath, knowing he needed to ready himself for what was going to come. He had three days to show his wife how much he truly loved her and somehow he knew it would be harder than expected.

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She was on the couch reading the paper when she noticed her husband come out of their room fully dressed. She didn't know what was going on with him, but she could tell he was tense. She smiled at him when he came to sit down next to her on the couch.

"Sweetie, don't you have work?"

He turned to her taking her small bare feet on his lap. "I decided to take off."

Blair looked up from the paper in amazement. "Chuck Bass is taking off from work?"

He smirked knowing he deserved that. He would usually never take off from work unless it was important. In their previous years of marriage they would sometimes play hooky and not show up to work for days. They hadn't done that in so many years he couldn't remember the last time they did.

He looked at his wife who was so into the paper he wasn't sure he could get her away. "Blair," he started.

She looked up at him giving the okay for him to continue.

He needed to think of something fast. In his mind he knew he couldn't have her be here for the third day. He needed to think of a place where she couldn't be hurt, where she would be safe.

"Where have you always wanted to go?" He had no idea where the questioned had come from.

She blinked at him thinking he was delirious. "Uh, I don't know. Paris maybe," she said not knowing where she had always wanted to go.

He thought about this. It seemed like a perfect choice. They would be out of the country, thus not having the problem of coming home whenever they wanted.

"Pack your bags." He told her while getting off the couch.

She looked at him suddenly. "What-"

"Get up, we're going."

He took off into their room. She got up off the couch reluctantly and followed him. "Wait, Chuck I don't want to go to Paris though. It's almost Christmas and I want to spend it here with you." She said grabbing a hold of his sweater.

He looked down at her. He had always liked their height difference. He could always look into her eyes and melt. Right now looking at her he saw all she wanted to do was be with him. He kissed her lips.

He broke away. "Please, I want to get out of the house."

She looked into his brown eyes. They were a deep brown color and that's when she knew he was being serious.

"You can pick a place. Anywhere but here." He tried pleading with her.

"My pick?" She questioned.

He thought about this for a moment before nodding. "You pick and we can do anything you want. That's the deal, we do what you want."

She took her head back and looked at him to make sure he was serious. She nodded her head telling him she liked the idea.

"I think I have an idea."

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They arrived at the train station and he couldn't of been more aggravated. She had informed him that she wanted to go to Mahone Bay, their hometown. He had tried to tell her to think big, but she told him that is where she wanted to go. He had granted her that knowing that he had to prove to her how much he loved her.

She dragged him up to the ticket booth and showed him the sign in all of its glory. There it was the Mahone Bay sign. He looked at her making sure this is really where she wanted to go. She didn't back down.

"Where would you two like to go?" The man behind the ticket booth asked.

"My wife and I would like two tickets to Mahone Bay."

Blair grabbed his hand and entwined their hands together. She smiled at him. He smiled back not wanting to make her mad. He needed this to go well and this was the first step to do what he thought would show how much she meant to him. They walked to the gate where the train would soon come to take them to the place where Chuck hoped they could stay more than three days.

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"Oh my gosh, it hasn't changed one bit." Blair said once they walked out of the train station.

They walked out and it was snowing, something Blair loved. She never got to see any scenery in New York, it was all tall buildings and people everywhere, but here she knew they could relax and maybe become the couple they used to be again. She wanted that more than anything with her husband.

Chuck looked around. She was right, not one thing had changed at all. He looked down to find the main street where they used to go every day. It had many antique shops and eatery places. He remembered Blair dragging him to her favorite shop, Mariposa's. She would drag him there every day and point out something new she wanted.

"You could say that," he replied to her early statement.

She looked down after his statement. She wished he would loosen up while being back home, but she knew there were to many memories of his past to consider here. He had all of his father's memories here and she knew it would be hard for him, but she hoped he would do it for her.

When she had arrived home this morning she had seen her husband. It wasn't that she didn't see him every day; it was that she had seen her old husband. The one that would look at her like she meant the world. As of lately she had thought she was just another girl to him, he proved her wrong though this morning. She hoped he would continue the love he had shown her, that's all she really wanted.

"Come on," he said while picking up their bags.

He knew she liked being back here. Once they got married he had dragged her off to New York so he could start working for his father's business there. He realized he had always controlled the relationship in some ways. He didn't want to do that anymore. He wanted to take his time and truly remember how they used to be, he wanted her to see him how he use to be.

"Chuck," she looked up at him.

"Yea," he said while looking down at her by his side.

"Thanks for coming here. I know you didn't want to." She said with a soft smile.

"Anywhere with you."

She smacked him hard. "Ok, stop with the cheesiness."

"It's called being a romantic," he laughed with her.

"Whatever Mr. Bass"

"Same _Mrs. _Bass."

Yes, she had truly missed her husband. She wrapped her arms around him while they walked down the main street of their hometown acting like they were eighteen again and hopelessly in love.

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They entered the only hotel in town. It was a tiny bed and breakfast. When Blair was little she had always dreamed of her honeymoon being here. They might have been ten years late, but she couldn't help be happy that Chuck had decided to stay here for their little trip.

"Blair Waldorf, it is a pleasure to have you back in town." The owner, Mr. Curlington said.

Blair smiled at him seeing her husband annoyed by the use of her former name. "It's actually Blair Bass." She said while scooting closer to her husband.

Mr. Curlington looked at the two and smiled. "Charles Bass, the son of Bartholomew Bass. How is he by the way?"

Chuck looked down he hadn't spoken of his father in a few months and he knew being back in town he would have too.

Blair took the lead sensing her husband's discomfort. "He's not with us anymore," she said while rubbing up and down her husband's arm.

Mr. Curlington looked sympathetic. "I'm so sorry Charles."

Chuck shook it off. "So Mr. Curlington what's your best room?"

Mr. Curlington had never had that questioned presented to him. "Well, I would have to go with room 12. Now Charles, it's pretty pricey."

Chuck laughed. "Will take it."

Blair rolled her eyes wishing Chuck would not make this about what was good and what wasn't it.

"Here is your key and I hope the Bass's enjoy their stay." Mr. Curlington smiled at them.

They made their way up the flights of stairs and entered their room. Blair looked around and smiled. It was absolutely just what they needed. It had a king size bed and one bathroom with a huge tub, very intimate in her opinion.

She saw Chuck look out the window and let out a grunt. He hated being here and all she wanted was for him to open up to her more. When she thought about bringing them back here she thought that this would give them the opportunity they needed to get back to where they once where. She wanted this so badly. She wanted to save her marriage; she had to know if he wanted to as well.

"Chuck are you upset about being here," she asked from across the room.

He turned his head to look at her; she looked so child like asking the question almost as if she was afraid to speak to him, and this tore him up inside. He walked over to her slowly and took her hand in his.

"Of course not. This place just brings up some stuff. That's all." He said while releasing her hand and going over to their suitcases to unpack.

While he went to unpack he saw Nate sitting on the bed. He jumped. Nate just smiled and waved. Chuck stared at him. He looked over to Blair who was still in the same spot looking at a picture. He needed to get out of here.

"Why don't we go out," he probably said a little more jumpy than he wanted.

She looked at him and nodded. "Yea just give me a couple of minutes," she told him as she exited the room to go use the bathroom.

Once he heard the door close, he looked to Nate.

"So how are things going?" Nate questioned.

"What are you doing here?" He tried to say as quietly as possible so Blair wouldn't hear.

"I told you, I go everywhere with you practically. Remember, angel here."

He gave Nate a look. "That's pleasant." Chuck said with sarcasm.

"Hey man you're lucky you're even getting a second chance."

"Why's that?" Chuck snapped.

"Hello, you weren't a good husband." Nate answered.

"I am a good husband." He defended himself, maybe a little to loudly because the next thing he knew Blair screamed from the bathroom.

"Chuck, who are you talking to?"

He looked at Nate. Nate just shrugged. "No one. Are you almost ready?"

"Where are you taking her?" Nate asked.

"Uh, I'm not sure yet. A certain angel," he said making air quotes around angel, "interrupted my thoughts."

Blair walked out of the bathroom to see her husband talking to the air. She looked at him questionably.

"Chuck?"

He jumped upon hearing her voice. He looked back to the bed to find no Nate and only Blair in his presence.

"I think not going to work has affected you," she looked at him while grabbing her coat.

"I think your right."

She laughed while opening their hotel room door to make their way out into the town together. He looked once more to the bed and found no Nate. He knew Nate would probably be watching him this whole time to ensure he was worth the risk. He hoped that he was, because looking at his wife right now he knew he could never lose her again.


	5. Chapter 5

The Gift

A/N: Hey everyone!!! I am here to post a quick chapter before I am out of town for the weekend! I am also sorry if there are a few grammar errors, but it's late and I really wanted to get this out before I leave! I would like to give a special thanks to Courtney and Lynne who beta'd this for me!!! You guys are awesome!!!! Also, thank you Lynne for doing this on short notice!!! Special dedication goes out to you!!! Also, Melissa girl, I am glad we made it this late and I hope you enjoy!! Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing! You guys are amazing!! Enjoy and please review!!

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I'll be home for Christmas

You can plan on me

Please have snow and mistletoe

And presents on the tree

Christmas Eve will find me

Where the love light gleams

I'll be home for Christmas

If only in my dreams.

-Frank Sinatra

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Walking down the street made Blair get a sense of earlier years gone by. She hadn't been home in ten years and she secretly regretted not pushing him to make the trip more often. She took his hand in hers to let him know she thought coming back was good for them. She felt him squeeze it she let a smile show through.

He'd taken her hand without hesitation. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it ever so softly. It might have been in a glove, but she could still feel the sweetness coming from him. She smiled up at him and he smiled down. He slung his left arm around her shoulder, and pulling her body into his. He hadn't been this close to his wife in many months. He had forgotten how much of her he'd been missing.

Her smile, he hadn't seen in many months or maybe years because and in a way he knew he hadn't really been seeing her for a long time, her eyes, the type you could get lost in without even knowing her, her subtle giddy personality, which everyone would comment on because it was just that perfect. In truth he knew he didn't deserve these days. He was of course glad that he had gotten them back, but he knew it was because she was something special that needed to be cherished and held on too.

She had missed him. She had missed his charming laugh that you could simply not help, but laugh along with too. His eyes, that were normally dark when he was in the city, were now a soft brown color that she could only see when he was truly happy. The stiff personality that she had been greeted with for months towards her was now gone and she was met with the boy that was her true love.

Her body was snuggled into his because it was below twenty degree's and they would always, in their younger years walk like they were doing now. On their way out from the bed and breakfast he had told her they were going to go to her favorite place. It was her favorite place for many reasons.

_Walking in, she could smell the candles. They were a nice spice scent that she could only smell here. Mariposa's the one antique shop that was in the small town. Being fifteen and just moving to a town she knew nothing about had been hard. She had found this place on her first day in town. Her mother, Eleanor, told her to wander around to find places, so she had. She'd instantly found this place. It was in between two tiny restaurants that also smelled of scents so good she would get lost in them._

_She walked in with her long heavy coat, looking around to find only a couple of other people in the store. She walked slowly, wanting to take as much time as she could. The entrance was covered in garlands because of the time of the year, she knew, but it was all around beautiful. She saw her favorite piece in the display case; the necklace. The necklace she had found on her first day. She stared at it in amazement. When she had seen it for her first time she had immediately wanted it, but looking at the price had it immediately becoming something she would always love from afar._

"_Nice necklace." The voice she had become infatuated with said. _

"_It's so beautiful," she responded._

_He looked at her. There were many girls in town, he had lived here all of his life and had always been known as the womanizer type and it may have been a joke to some, but to him it sometimes meant he would be nothing more. He looked at Blair, the one he had known for only a couple of weeks. Serena had introduced them and their date had gone tragically. He would have been more embarrassed by it, but Blair was the one girl he felt he could be himself with._

"_Why don't you try it on?" He asked her._

_She stared up at him. The one person she was becoming extremely close with. Sure their first date had been a complete disaster, but it couldn't keep her away. Serena had told her to be careful around him and she had tried for a while, but he was somebody that meant something. _

"_I couldn't," her voice was timid and he could pick up on it._

_He laughed at her shyness. "No one has ever put it on. I think it's made for someone special." She looked at him when he had muttered the softly word; 'special'._

_He took the top of the case off because he had seen her many times come in here and look at that one piece. She would always glow when she saw it. He took the Erickson Beamon necklace out and slowly put it on her._

_She let out a breath from the feel of his soft touches on her neck. His hands were cold, probably due to the dropping temperatures outside, but the shiver running up her spine told her otherwise. Once the necklace was on, she went to look in the mirror. She saw Chuck come up beside her and give her a dazzling smile._

"_It looks amazing on you." _

_She blushed. "Thank you, maybe one day." She said to him while looking at the necklace. _

_Chuck looked at her. She was beautiful. She wasn't just some girl that you dated for a month and then break up with; no she was a girl every guy dreamed of being with forever. She had inner and outside beauty. He smiled at her because he promised himself right then one day he would be the guy that would give her what she wanted most in this moment. _

"_I'm sure it will happen." _

They walked in to the familiar shop and Blair could smell the scent she'd always loved so long ago. She took her husband's hand and led him to the spot that she used to love. To her surprise the necklace was still there. She looked down at it and smiled. She couldn't believe it was still here. She thought by now it would have been snatched up, but there it was in all its beauty.

"Oh my gosh! Chuck, look." She said pulling him over from the lamp he was studying.

He saw her look at the necklace like she was fifteen again. She looked at it like it meant everything. He had never purchased her the necklace because he had never bothered to come back to get it for her. He should have; the necklace always reminded him of that time in their lives when there had been nothing more important than them. In their last few years he had strayed away from it and he now regretted it immensely.

"Still as pretty as ever," he looked upon it with her.

She cast her eyes down with a smile because when she was younger she had always thought her prince charming would have given her this necklace. Back in the days of just meeting her husband she had thought he would have been the one to give it to her. Seeing her husband as he was now, she somehow had hoped it was would still be there. Their love, that they had created so long ago, was somehow being salvaged and she couldn't of been happier.

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"Do you remember when we begged your mom to let us put our hand prints in the cement in front of your house?" She laughed recalling the memory.

He nodded as they made their way in front of his old house that they hadn't seen in years. It was the same, still the country style that his mother had always liked; his father hadn't become one of the richest men in the United States by choosing to live here. It had come from abandoning his son in favor of his work and never being around; leaving his mother to care for him. Of course Chuck hadn't minded at the time because he'd figured his father would come back, someday. He never did though, and some days Chuck still couldn't understand why he had gone to work for his father. He always told himself that he'd done it because of the girl standing next to him. He'd wanted to give her something more than this town so he did.

"How could I forget? My mom said no until I agreed to go to the Winter Ball with you." He recalled while he bumped her off the sidewalk with his hip.

She pushed him back. "Hey! The senior Winter Ball was one of the most important things to a girl; I needed my boyfriend to go."

"Well your boyfriend wanted to stay in with his girlfriend and not share her," he smirked at his wife.

She looked up at him. "Well if I remember correctly I think you ended up having an amazing time."

He took back the smirk because in reality, that night had been one of the best nights in his life. Blair had dragged him there against his own will and it turned out to be well worth it. They had met up at the ball because Blair had refused to go to dinner and ruin her dress. He'd agreed and waited with Dan for the girls in the front entrance. In their high school Serena had been known as the 'it' girl at school but when Blair had walked through those doors he couldn't see why any one would make that mistake, least of all on this night. Blair had entered draped in a gorgeous, blue silk dress and next to Serena, Chuck had thought she had been the stand out by far.

"I did." He told her honestly.

"I'm glad." She answered when they finally stood in front of the old house.

She looked at the place and remembered practically every night she'd ever came here. On the nights where there would be a ragging blizzard outside, her mother would always let her stay over. She had loved Chuck's mom, Misty. Misty had been like her mother for the last couple of years until she passed away during their first year of marriage. Her death had been hard on her husband, but she had been glad Chuck pulled through. When his father had died though, she couldn't understand why he'd had a drastically different approach for coping with grief. He had always disliked his father for the things he had done to his mother, but she guessed somewhere along the line something had changed and he actually had started to care.

"There they are." He interrupted her from her longing thought.

She looked down and found their handprints still there, the way she needed them to be. They were still there for reason, they'd put them there for a reason and Blair knew there was still a flicker of hope. She looked up at him and smiled; _they_ were still there. And she was so glad that they were.

She bent down, wanting to see if her hands still fit. She saw him bending down as well and they both put their hands on the smaller versions frozen in cement. She looked down and noticed they didn't fit anymore. The face of happiness she had been displaying minutes earlier soon turned into a face of distant memories.

"They don't fit anymore," he said to her.

She glanced at him when his face was turned away from hers. It had a deeper meaning than what he probably knew. Maybe _they_ didn't fit anymore - it scared her more than anything. Maybe you didn't love just one someone forever.

He looked back at her and knew he shouldn't have said that. On the top of things not to say to your wife, that was up there. He sighed wishing this could go better for him. They had actually been having a great time until he'd made that comment. He cursed slightly under his breath.

"Chuck Bass and Blair Waldorf?" A strange man asked them.

Blair and Chuck both looked up at the same time. Blair looked at Chuck who only met her confused look with equal confusion. He quickly stood, helping Blair up as well.

"I'm sorry-" Chuck stammered.

"Senior year I ate the fourteen pound turkey." The man said throwing up his hands.

Blair looked at Chuck and laughed. "Turkey legs?" Blair could not believe this.

He nodded.

Their senior year of high school they had held a Thanksgiving Day feast. The senior class came up with the brilliant idea of having Adam Farmer eat a fourteen-pound turkey. They had said it would be perfect since he was the class clown and it had was the funniest thing that Blair could remember from high school.

"You live here now?" Surprised someone else could live in Chuck's old home.

"I sure do. With my wife Carol-"

Chuck stopped him. "Carol Wiggins?"

The man nodded. "Married for eight years now. Not as long as the two of you, _the_ lovebirds of high school, but we make it work. Carol would love to see you guys and so would the kids." He smiled at them.

Blair looked at Adam, high school class clown, and saw he was changed. The man that had once had long curly brown hair was now sported a buzz cut. He looked quite a bit different then she remembered him. He had a wife and children. She smiled at turkey legs.

"We would love to see her." Blair said.

Chuck looked at her. He didn't have time to chat up with old friends that he could care less about. He needed to just be with her. He was about to tell her this before he was dragged off to somewhere he rather not be.

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They walked through the entry way of his used to be home. He looked around, noticing nothing was the same as the way he'd left it. The hallway that led to the living room used to be a soft blue color that was now a deep shade of green. The shag carpeting in the living room was now hardwood flooring.

"Do you remember what used to be here?" Carol asked, pointing at the wood floors.

Blair smiled remembering every detail about the house. "Green shag."

Carol laughed. "Yes, and who would have ever thought beautiful wooden floors would be under that?"

Adam rolled his eyes. "Chuck would you like a beer?"

Chuck was grateful for the reprieve. "You could not have asked a better question."

Chuck and Adam then walked out of the room leaving Carol and Blair to catch up. Carol was a very petite woman with blonde hair and a great sense of style when it came to her house, in Blair's opinion.

"So what brings the two of you back in town? You guys haven't been around for so many years." Carol asked.

"We just thought we needed to get out of the apartment in New York City. It gets crowded around this time of year." Blair answered as best she could.

"Is it just the two of you? No little ones yet?"

Blair looked down, always getting asked the questioned over and over again and never telling Chuck about it. The first time she had been asked this very question was when everyone first found out about the elopement. They all thought she was pregnant which she denied every time. Here she was twenty-eight, ten years of marriage, and still being asked.

"Um, no. Just us." She finally replied.

Carol looked at her. She could tell Blair wanted children. "Your lucky," Carol tried to comfort her. "Our two children are sometimes such a pain in my butt. I am sure they would love to meet you. You guys are quite the legend."

"Oh yea I would love too."

Carol handed Blair the picture. Blair looked at the children, they were absolutely gorgeous. They reminded her of Serena and Dan's children.

"Carol they're beautiful." Blair told her.

"That they are. That's Max and That's Abbey. Their eight and twins. A mess." She said while pointing to her children.

Before anymore could be said Chuck and Adam entered the room again. Chuck came around to see what Blair was looking at and felt his stomach turn. He knew the children conversation would come up tonight.

"Cute kids," Chuck said while feeling Blair nudge him a little.

"They have heard many stories about the great Chuck Bass," Adam said while laughing with Carol.

Blair rolled her eyes good naturally. "Oh great."

"How about you guys stay for dinner, then we can head over to the annual Christmas festivities in town afterward," Carol told them.

Blair looked at Chuck and then smiled. "We'd love to."

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They all sat at the very large dinner table, telling tells of their day. Blair and Chuck together on one side, the family filling in the other. Max was very taken with Chuck while Abbey was getting a long with Blair great. Abbey was telling Blair about her skating lessons which she'd been taking since was six. Blair was very interested.

"So Blair, you like to skate?" Eight-year-old Abbey asked.

Blair was getting very close with Abbey. She was so sweet and took after both of her parents.

"I would always go out to the old pond by Willow Road and skate for hours. It was always so peaceful out there." Blair recalled always loving to skate.

"So Chuck, you like sell things?" Max asked with wide eyes.

Chuck laughed. "Something like that."

Chuck could see Adam roll his eyes.

"So Blair what do you exactly do?" Carol asked.

"I do little odd jobs." Blair answered while taking a sip of her water.

"And Chuck you have your father's business right?"

"Yea, I am still surprised I could get him off of work." Blair told the table while they all laughed.

Chuck took the hand, which he was currently not using and put it on her thigh. She looked at him surprised by the gesture. He just smirked at her.

"So what are all the things they do now?" Blair asked referring to all the Christmas festivities going on tonight.

"Well do you guys remember the old gazebo right in the middle of town?" Carol asked.

Chuck and Blair nodded while they remembered all the times they used to spend there.

"They have caroler's sing and they light the big tree. Just how it use to be."

Blair looked at Chuck. "I'm sure you would love to sing?"

Chuck laughed. "Think again."

"Do you sing Chuck?" Carol looked between the couple.

"He is an amazing singer. He just likes anyone to know it." Blair nudged him.

Carol looked surprise. "Chuck I think you should try and sing tonight. We can always use more people." Carol looked excited at this prospect.

Chuck was caught on the spot, but he'd have to pass on this. "I don't think so. I haven't sung in a while."

"Do you sing Blair?"

Blair's eyes went wide. "No, that is the husbands specialty not mine."

They talked while they ate dinner. As soon as dinner ended the men went into living room to wait while the women cleaned up. Carol and Blair were chatting about the kids, which made Blair smile in every way possible.

"You know how kids can be. I love them, but I would love to straggle them sometimes." Carol said while handing Blair anther dish to put in the cabinet.

"Abbey and Max are amazing Carol. They're great kids." Blair told her honestly.

"They are great, but sometimes I just wish it was me and Adam again. It must be great, you and Chuck. Just the two of you." Carol looked at Blair who was trying her best not to let out a tear.

It wasn't that she didn't like it being just Chuck and her, it was more of the way they were still just Chuck and Blair. It had been ten years of endless devotion, love, and friendship between them but it was the fact that just mere days ago they were fighting over meaningless nothing only for him to want to give her everything she wanted today.

She couldn't help it, a tear fell from her eye. She just needed to breathe and let it all out. She felt like she was suffocating in this world of what use to be and now she just needed to be alone.

"Blair what's wrong?" Carol came over to her and touched her shoulder.

"It's just that Chuck and me have been fighting lately and now all he wants is to play house and be happy." She looked at Carol who encouraged her to go on. "Then this morning I felt like I had my husband back; he cared again."

"But that's good right?" Carol hoped she understood what Blair was trying to say.

"Yea, I guess I've just been wondering lately if maybe people aren't meant to be together forever," Blair let out in a soft voice.

Outside of the kitchen door, Chuck had over heard the whole conversation between the two women. Adam had gone to check on the children while Chuck decided to see what Blair was up to and he'd over heard every single word his wife had muttered. If only she knew those words had secretly killed him a little on the inside. He guessed she would never know.

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Blair and Chuck had decided to walk with the Farmer family for the festivities in town. They held hands like they used to and had done almost the entire day. Blair's words replayed in his head like the accident had; an endless loop. Not being with her was not an option. He'd thought about it many times; not being each other's one and only but he's always blocked it out of his mind. He knew they were each other's one and only.

He turned to her. "Blair,"

She looked at him. "Yea."

She didn't feel like talking, she just wanted to enjoy the night. Just enjoy however many days her husband would be this way, be her husband again.

"You know I would do anything for you, right?"

She was surprised by his question, but instantly nodded. "Of course."

He let out a breath. He had to ask, there were so many questions that he needed to ask, before the time came. The time was inevitable, but he still had hope that Nate would somehow, just somehow, grant him some more time with her.

He abruptly stopped, which made Blair stop walking as well.

"Look Blair I know I may not always be the husband that you want or remember, but I will always love you. I always have and I always will. You have to believe me." He didn't know exactly why he had just admitted that to her, but it felt some weight being lifted off his shoulders.

She didn't really know how she should respond to that, but she knew how she wanted to. She kissed his lips, reassuring him that she knew what he meant. He kissed her back. He had wanted her to say something, but he was glad he got some reassurance in the kiss. They broke from the kiss when Blair heard her name being called by Abbey.

She gave him a small smile and walked out of his grasp. He let out a sigh. He looked around at all the people. The whole town was practically here and he couldn't help, but smile. He was about to walk to where he saw his wife when he saw Nate sitting on a bench. Usually when he saw Nate appear, which had been once so far, it always meant he needed something. He walked over to the bench where Nate was sitting leisurely,

"Nate," Chuck saw a couple people stare at him, he didn't care though.

"How's it going?" Nate asked him.

Chuck suppressed a dejected sigh. "Not so well actually."

Nate looked at him with surprised eyes. "Chuck, that's not good man. You have less than forty-eight hours left."

"I know. That's why I was wondering if you had any ideas on what to do?" Chuck asked a little desperate for his taste.

"Have you thought about giving her a _gift_?" Nate asked hoping Chuck would see the deeper meaning.

Chuck looked at him and tried not to snap at him. "So now not only do I have less than two days with my wife, now I have to purchase her the last Christmas present she'll ever get?"

Nate looked at Chuck, knowing he still didn't get it. "The gift will show her you truly love her. Maybe if you can do that, you might just get what you want more than anything."

Chuck looked at his 'angel' more confused than when he originally asked the question.

The mayor took the podium. "Folks I'm sorry to have to say this, but the tree is not cooperating at this time." You could hear jeers everywhere.

Mayor Johnson quieted the crowd when he saw a person he hadn't seen in years, standing before him. "What a delight it is to have Blair Waldorf and Charles Bass home for the holidays."

Blair was standing with the Farmer family while she looked around for her husband who was nowhere in sight. She turned back to the Mayor that was speaking directly to her. "I'm sorry I don't know where he is."

Blair looked at Carol. "He's probably on his Blackberry."

Carol nodded. "Do you want some apple cider?"

Blair looked at her and gave her a smile. "That would be nice."

Carol, Abbey, and Blair started making there way to the concession stand when she heard something that caught her attention. She looked over to the gazebo where all the musicians were and saw none other than Chuck Bass playing the piano. She hadn't seen him play in years. She stopped walking and watched him. He looked so comfortable, she couldn't believe her husband was playing the piano in front of the crowd.

He couldn't believe he was doing this. He blamed Nate for making him walk up here and play the piano and get ready to sing the first notes of 'I'll Be Home For Christmas.' He knew this might not be the gift he was angling for, but he decided it was a start in the right direction.

He played the first C chord with ease. He hadn't played in such a long time, but he did it because he knew Blair used to love to hear him play. Next he went to his G chord and then started to sing ever so lightly.

Blair couldn't of been more proud of her husband. When he would play for her when they were younger he would always be too embarrassed to sing in front of her. Now, looking at him while singing one of her favorite Christmas songs, she was in a daze. Her husband, Chuck Bass, in front of a huge crowd playing and singing, but in some ways she could feel him just playing for only her.

He looked up and saw her watching him. He was almost done with playing and he couldn't of been happier. Nate had said a gift that truly showed how much he loved her. He still had a ways to go. What Nate had said, startled him a little bit. A _gift. _A gift that could give him what he had been asking for. Yes, that definitely confused him.

When he finished all the chords and ended his try at singing he, heard the crowd start singing with the carolers. His eyes were still with her eyes and he walked out of the gazebo where the piano was placed and immediately over to her. She gave him a toothy smile and instantly kissed him. He kissed her back, he'd never liked PDA, but he didn't care at all in that moment. They stopped the kiss when they could feel eyes on them. She worded 'I love you' to him and he kissed her forehead.

Nate watched and smiled. He then looked up at the tree, which wasn't lit and gave it a magic touch. The lights on the tree came on and the town cheered in delight while seeing the once high school sweethearts more in love than ever.


	6. Chapter 6

The Gift

A/N: Hey guys!!! Oh man it has been a long time!! *slaps self* I am sooo sorry I couldn't get this out sooner!! I mean just I am so sorry!! Luckily I made it extra long for you guys!! Now just to clarify something! I was really hoping to have this done before Christmas, but I don't think it will happen! I know I am crushed about that too, but look it at it this way, after Christmas you can still have some Christmas spirit while reading! Haha! Now special thanks to Court, who helped me look over the first half! I have no idea where you are right now so you couldn't see the finished product! Hmm...! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas, but I have a feeling I will have another author's note by then *winks*!! I hope you all enjoy and please review!

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Santa can you hear me

I have been so good this year

And all I want is one thing

Tell me my true love is near

He's all I want, just for me

Underneath my Christmas tree

Santa that's my only wish this year.

-Britney Spears

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It was the second day he had woken up early. He heard the vibration of his cell go off next to the bed and slowly turned over. He turned over to be met with a small body close to him. He guessed he had turned the other way in the night because when they had gone to bed, the night previously, she had been wrapped in his arms. She looked to be in the same position and it made a small smile form on his face. He pulled the covers up to her shoulder to make sure she didn't get cold; he then remembered the reason why he had been woken up. He leaned over, trying not to wake her and grabbed his phone. The caller was pointless and he pushed it over to the side of the dresser. He then laid his head back down and went to bring his wife back in his arms.

He took her in gracefully and smelled the scent of his wife. In high school she would always wear the same perfume, Gucci, as they got older that scent soon faded and turned into a natural scent; which smelled of vanilla and lavender. He took in the scent; which had become foreign to him. Her small body fit perfectly with his and he decided to bring her closer wanting to be by her as much as he could.

He'd come to the realization yesterday that he had to find a gift for his wife. The gift that would make her happy and content, there were many gifts to choose from and he couldn't figure out which one to go with. He knew all she truly wanted was for him to say yes to having a child together. Five years ago he'd been at work when he had received a call from the New York City Central Hospital. It turned out to be Blair in the hospital and he couldn't of been more ashamed for not being there sooner. He learned that afternoon that his wife had suffered from a miscarriage.

She never even told him she had been pregnant, later she told him that she had been to scared to tell him and just decided to wait until she had to. It had hurt when she had told him this, he had to look away from her and that's when he promised himself he didn't want children. He didn't want her to go through the pain he knew she had experienced.

His eyes grazed down to her collarbone, which he hadn't noticed till right then that it was protruding slightly more than usual. She had been thin for all the years he had known her, but looking down at her now he could tell she was thinner than usual. He took his hand and softly touched her neck where he knew another present could also be presented too. The necklace that she'd always wanted was waiting for her in the glass case. He might not of bought it for her when she'd most desired it, but he was learning that time wasn't always a factor. When he was younger he never imagined his life turning out like the way it had. In high school it was always about which girls you ended the night with, but then she came along and everything had suddenly came into perspective. The last few years though he had somehow stumbled away from the man she had once made him.

He took his hand away from her and looked back to the clock that was on the nightstand. 7:53 a.m. He looked back at her sleeping figure and decided he wanted to be out of the hotel room before she had a chance to wake. He got up slowly from the bed and noticed she turned over to her side and took the blanket he'd placed on her with her. He smiled to himself as he made his way to the shower. He removed all his clothes and made his way towards the hot water. He needed time to himself to think about the one day he had left. He didn't even count this day because in his mind he knew it would be over before it started.

He put his head under the shower nozzle and let the hot water run down his body until it burned. He didn't mind though since he wanted it to burn his skin. He wanted to feel the pain he knew he needed to feel. He didn't realize it was happening, but he felt a fresh batch of tears about to burn his eyes. He let it out softly not wanting to let it take over him, but somehow it did and all he thought about was how he had treated her and how he only had one more day left with the best person he'd ever known.

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She woke up in an instant upon hearing the shower. She looked around to find the time to be 8:15 a.m. She was surprised that her husband was yet again up earlier than her. She thought about going in there, but decided against it knowing she could wait. She laid her head back feeling the need for a few more minutes of sleep. She closed her eyes once more and turned over to her husband's side. She could smell his natural scent of mint that she could always smell when she was close to him. She rested her head on his pillow wanting to get lost in him, even if he wasn't by her side.

She felt her eyes closing once more when she felt a soft touch on her arm. She opened her eyes to see Chuck staring back at her. She blushed from his intense stare. He looked concern, which she hadn't seen in him in a while. She slowly put her hand out, which he took in an instant and intertwined them together. He kissed the back of her hand slightly than stood back up so that their hands still lingered in one another's. He turned to look at the clock and knew it would be okay to go now, since the store opened in twenty minutes. She looked up at him with curious eyes and he tried not to look so she wouldn't have any idea where his mind was. His mind traveled back to Nate, then the accident, and sometimes when they lost everything.

"Where are you going?" She asked in a voice that seemed lost.

He made his way over to his suitcase to pull out a pair of slacks and a plain black long sleeve shirt. He would normally wear something more prestigious than this, but being in his hometown he decided to down grade. He walked back over to her and sat on the bed, while putting his shoes on.

"Just to get some breakfast." He lied.

She raised her eyebrows. "Do you want me to come with you?"

He smiled at her knowing she wanted to come, but he knew she could not come for this outing he had planned.

"Nah, I won't be gone long. Plus, it's freezing out there."

She looked up at him. Her husband was never the kind to go out by himself unless something was on his mind. "What's wrong?"

He turned to her from where he sat. She knew him to well just like he knew her to well. "I just need some fresh air." He lied again.

She nodded pushing the bed sheets and coming behind him to give him a hug. He was surprised by the hug and finally grabbed her arm that was around his shoulders. She kissed the side of his cheek.

"I love you." She told him.

Somehow this relieved him. Blair he knew loved him, but he just wished somehow he could be sure that she loved him. Sure, she would say it every night before they went to bed, but it sometimes just became something she had to say.

"I love you too." He held her tighter not wanting to let her go, but knew he would have to.

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It was cold out and lately he would've had Blair by his side, but he decided to just go out on his own and breathe for a bit. He was being suffocated in all things Blair. Her eyes, her lips, and everything that came to the mind had been Blair. Thinking about work for the last couple of months really through him off and he hadn't been himself in a while. Doing work, he thought, had made it better for them. Not talking or being around each other he truly thought helped, but what it seemed to do was push them farther apart.

He passed the area where the previous night he had played, which Blair told him was a joy to listen too. She went on for about an hour before he decided he couldn't take it anymore, so he decided to ravish her. He hadn't been that close to her in a long time. Sure they were talking more and had been going strong, but nothing felt better than when you were connected to your love mentally and physically. They had been in both places last night. He hadn't felt that alive in so many years that when it had ended he almost regretted meeting her.

He of course didn't regret meeting her in that sense because he loved her with all of his heart. What he regretted was not being there completely for her. Through all she had been through he had taken the passenger seat and sometimes hadn't been interested at all in her "little" problems as his dad use to say.

When they had moved to New York and he'd taken the job up with his father he never imagined what it would do to them. The first half of their marriage had gone well, always with each other and doing what most people do as couples. He then went to work for his father exclusively and it had all gotten messed up. He just wondered how long Blair had truly been upset, upset with him and upset with plain everything.

He remembered the day well when his life lost a little glimmer of hope. He was in his father's office working like usual when his assistant had come in telling him he had a phone call, which of course he shook off until an hour later. Looking back it was the one moment in his life he would always re-do if he got a second chance.

"_This is perfect for the company." A young twenty three year old Chuck Bass tried to explain._

_His father looked at him disapprovingly and he wanted to punch the smirk off his fathers face._

"_Charles it's in California. We're specifically in the East and Northwest regions. I don't think it will work."_

_He looked at his father trying to reason more with him. He might not have been at the job as long as his father, but he knew this was the right way to go with the company._

"_Father-" He was about to go on when his assistant, Carol Henry, appeared in the doorway._

_The two men turned towards her. _

"_Mr. Bass." They both looked at her waiting for her to say something. "Um, Chuck you have a phone call. It's your wife"_

_Chuck looked at her and sighed. He couldn't deal with phone calls right now. "Tell her I will call her back in a minute." He told her while turning to his father again._

_They men heard the door shut before going back to the task at hand._

"_Charles are you sure you don't need to check the phone call?" His father instigated him._

_Chuck looked at him. "No, father look. If you go to the west, which has higher taxes anyways, it's perfect for the real estate branch of Bass Industries."_

_His father pondered this and gave him the go ahead. "Fine, but if this fails," he looked at Chuck._

"_It won't." Chuck smiled._

_The father and son went over the business proposal for the next hour before his father had a meeting. As Chuck was getting ready to enter his cubicle he saw Carol rush towards him. _

"_Mr. Bass you have a call from an unknown caller. They say it's an emergency." Carol said to him._

_Chuck rolled his eyes while telling her he would take it in his office. Once in his office he took his seat and answered the call._

"_Chuck Bass with Bass Industries." He said._

"_Mr. Bass this is Doctor Kurl at New York City Central Hospital. I'm calling concerning a Miss Blair Waldorf." _

_He gulped. He was pretty sure all the color had left his face and wondered if it would ever return. "What's wrong?" He asked suddenly._

"_Are you her immediate family?"_

"_Yes, I'm her husband." He snapped._

"_She's had a miscarriage and we think it's best if you come as soon as possible." The doctor said._

_He didn't know whether to push all the papers off his desk or let out tears that he knew had to be forming. _

"_Uh, yea I will be there." He said quickly before slamming the phone down and rushing out of his office._

_Upon walking, he saw his father and Carol talking. He saw his father stop mid sentence of talking. _

"_Charles is everything all right?" _

"_Like you would care." He said angrily while pushing his way past them._

_Walking out onto the cold streets of New York City he did everything in his power to find his car, once he found his car in a place he couldn't even remember parking in. Sitting in five o'clock traffic just pissed him off more. He hit the stirring wheel as hard as he could. He couldn't believe he hadn't taken the call. He couldn't believe she had been without him while she needed him. The hospital was at the next block and somehow the time went into a blur for him. Getting out of the car and rushing inside happened so fast he really couldn't believe he was already sitting in the waiting room._

"_Charles Bass?" A woman came out from a room that he guessed his wife was in. _

_He stood up as quickly as he could and made his way over._

"_Are you Blair Waldorf's husband?" The woman said her former name, which made him feel even guiltier inside._

"_Yes," he told her just wanting to see his wife. _

"_I will come in to talk to you and your wife later." She turned then to show him, which room and he immediately went in._

_He saw her propped up in bed and fidgeting with her sheets. He could tell from even back here that her eyes were puffy and he knew more tears would come even when he entered. _

_He did the only thing that came to mind and walked slowly over to her and took up the chair that was by the bed. He pulled the chair closer so he could rest his head on the bed while holding her tiny hand in his._

"_I'm sorry Chuck." She peeped out while looking at his head that was currently resting on her hand. She could feel the water droplets that she knew were tears and she couldn't take it. _

_He lifted his head up slowly to look her in the eyes. He so badly wanted to be mad at her. He wanted to tell her that she should have told him right when she found out. He didn't want children and he'd told her that many times, but he would have accepted it and probably would have wanted more. Now he couldn't endure to ever think of it again. This had broken him. _

"_Chuck please say something," she cried to him. _

_The tears were falling and she couldn't stop crying. She had been at home fixing dinner when all of sudden she had a sudden pain, such a pain she fell to the floor and had to crawl to get to the phone. She called him, which was turned away. She had been so furious at that she just decided to call the hospital. When she arrived they started doing test until she finally started to bleed and that's when she knew it was over. Knew she wouldn't be able to experience anything she had wanted most._

_He didn't have a chance to speak before it all became a blur again. First, Blair twitching from the pain and then nurses surrounding her because she started bleeding out again and it all happened so quickly he couldn't gain composure. It was two hours later before he was able to enter again. He didn't lay his head down and not speak to her; he simply held her and they experienced their loss together. _

He stopped walking momentarily because he hadn't thought of that in many months. It always brought him crashing down to why he never wanted kids again. He tried once for her. He told her he wanted to try, which she'd been happy about, but it soon became too much for them and that's when he said it wasn't the right time. The excuse he knew could only last so much longer.

He entered the store that held the gift he was going to buy. He couldn't consider the child right now, even though he wanted one more than anything right now. He knew he had to lie to her though because of the day that was rapidly approaching. The day where he knew would break him in so many pieces he wouldn't be able to recover.

Nate told him the gift could make what he wanted to come true. He had thought about this so long he didn't know if it could be processed more. The gift was something only Nate knew apparently. He had stayed awake after Blair had been asleep and thought about it coming up with the only two things that would make her happy, the necklace and a child. Since the necklace seemed somewhat reasonable since she had talked about it since she was fifteen he decided to go with that for now.

Looking down at the case his eyes shut for a few seconds. This he hoped would somehow show her he truly loved her. This had to be it. If he couldn't save her, he would have to show her and show Nate she deserved her life and he deserved to have her in his life. Show him she was the best person you could ever come by.

"May I help you sir?" An older lady asked.

The woman soon brought Chuck out of his thoughts and he smiled nervously at her. "Yea, uh I need to purchase this."

The woman's eyes went wide and a huge smile appeared on her face. "You must be Chuck Bass. Blair Bass's husband."

Chuck looked at her confused.

"She used to come in here all the time and tell me about the two of you. Such a lovely woman." She told him while taking the necklace and taking it up to the counter.

"She loves this place." His thoughts were far off while looking around the small shop.

"I know. She used to come in and just brightened this place up. Where is she today?" The woman asked while gift-wrapping the necklace. "You know this is made for someone special."

Chuck put his head down at the special comment because truly Blair reflected everything everyone wished they had and could be. "I know she's special. She's everything to me."

The lady smiled while finishing the wrapping and rang it up; which he paid for. He walked out of the store with a sense of need to see her which he hadn't done in a long time besides when she died. It unnerved him to think that she could be gone in less than forty-eight hours now. He pushed the thought away right now because he wanted to get back to her and prepare for their dinner tonight, the dinner where he would give her the gift she had always longed for.

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The place they picked for dinner was a place kids didn't go to and only older people filled the room. He was thankful for the relief because Abbey and Max had worn him out today. Blair and him had told Carol and Adam they would watch them, which had turned into a whole day of being with them. Chuck wasn't expecting a day with kids because all he wanted to do was spend the day with Blair, but she had insisted.

Their day had been filled with many things Chuck despised, but somehow he managed to have the time of his life. Blair seemed very maternal and she had even told him she could tell he was enjoying himself. He had denied her the answer, but in truth he had fun.

She was surprised that her husband, Chuck Bass, had been good with kids. It was always a subject she knew he was uncomfortable with, but she saw something in him she liked and knew he would be a good father. She smiled across the table at her husband and he showed her a smile back.

They had ordered and were now just waiting. Their conversations went back and forth and Blair was enjoying the atmosphere of it all. The subject she was going to bring up next was something she'd been meaning to bring up for a while now. Having spent time with Max and Abbey the conversation, to her, was becoming something of need.

He looked over at her and knew she wanted to say something. She would always nervously bite her lip when something was in that beautiful head of hers. He wanted to give her the gift and since she was not going to speak what was on her mind he decided to go for it.

"Blair-" He started.

She looked up at him with wide eyes. She was glad he started talking.

"I have something for you," he told her.

She smiled and did a nervous laugh, which made him laugh. He was nervous to hand her the gift, but also excited. He had brought the gift in and hid it under the table, how he had done that he didn't know. He brought the gift up and set it on the table. He saw her eyes sparkle.

"What is this sweetie?" She asked him while staring at the perfect wrapped package in awe.

He laughed. "Something I picked out for you. Here open it."

He pushed the box towards her and she started un-wrapping the gift. When she noticed what it was she began to tear. She didn't know why besides the fact, that the most un-romantic person in the world had given her this amazing gift.

He stood up from his chair and walked over to her and bent down to kiss her. She kissed him back and held on to him and hugged him tighter. She kissed his cheek and whispered 'thank you' in his ear. He kissed her lightly on the temple and went back to his seat since the whole restaurant decided to stare.

She wiped the tear away from her eye and began to speak. "How did you know?" She asked.

He contemplated telling her, but decided he needed this to go as well as possible. "I've always known." He took her hand in his and squeezed it.

She looked into his eyes and could tell he knew her maybe even better than she knew herself.

"So Abbey and Max they are precious don't you think," she knew this might not be the best time to bring up children, but she needed to.

He set back in his seat and sighed. He knew this would come up during the dinner. "Yea, very cute." He said tensing.

He was tensing and she could sense it. "Does it ever make you want kids?" She questioned innocently.

He looked right at her and fidgeted in his chair. He didn't want to say no, but he had too. He couldn't have her want them now. He knew what would occur tomorrow night at 11:58 and it replayed in his mind. He saw her look for the answers and he knew she couldn't read him.

"You know I want kids Blair, more than anything, but work is so hectic right now, I just don't think it's the right time." He somehow got out.

She took her hand away from his as if it had burned. She didn't mean to seem cold, but this hurt her. Always waiting for it to be the right time with him, when really it was both of their decisions.

"You know Chuck, it isn't always about what you want. It has to be the right time for both of us. I'm not getting any younger and neither are you." She told him as calmly as she could.

He nodded his head not wanting to get in a fight with her, but knew it was coming. "I get that Blair, but I want to be there for you this time, unlike last time," he snapped.

She looked at him and decided she needed some fresh air. "I need to go to the ladies room, excuse me." She walked off and all he could was look at her and throw his napkin on the table dejectedly.

Chuck couldn't stand this anymore. He wanted kids with her and he knew this time it would be different. He would be there for her and never turn her away. His thoughts lingered a bit longer before something interrupted him.

"That sure didn't go well." The voice said.

Chuck jumped a little before noticing Nate appear out of nowhere.

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

Nate looked at him and smiled. "That's the best greeting I have ever hear." He tried to give Chuck a high five, which was met with a scowl.

"So the necklace. That's pretty good." Nate eyed it.

"I know. It's the gift she's always wanted." Chuck smiled triumphantly.

Nate laughed. "It's a good one, but not what I'm looking for." He messed with the necklace while Chuck looked at him stunned.

"What! Are you shitting me? That's what she's always wanted. That's the gift." Chuck told him.

"It's a good gift, but you don't understand yet. You need to understand before you truly know, truly know what the gift is. I hope you figure it out." Nate told him before going into a different subject. "Kids. That's rough man."

Chuck stared at the 'angel' in front of him completely shocked. He couldn't believe this. He needed to punch this guy. "Can we not talk about kids please?"

"Why not I know you want them, but you can't say anything because you know what's going to happen."

His eyes blinked because Nate knew exactly what he was feeling. "It's killing me inside too." He finally admitted.

"It should. Blair's an amazing girl." He told Chuck. "I know you. You'll figure it out."

Nate ended the conversation with that before disappearing. He looked around and noticed Blair was making her way back to the table. He sighed and told himself this had to go good, or he might lose his wife and essentially never be him again.

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The dinner, at the end, had gone somewhat successful. Blair and him didn't bring up 'the' topic again and went into different conversation. He held her close as they walked down the main street of Mahone Bay. They came upon one of Blair's favorite places. It was a small reception area that held many events. She looked in the window and noticed a new bride and groom dancing.

"Look, their first dance," she smiled looking in.

He looked in as well and smiled to himself.

"Do you ever regret it?" She asked suddenly.

He looked down so he could see her eyes looking up at him. "No of course not. I didn't want a big wedding. We had our witness, Dorota and that was enough for me." He laughed knowing it made her laugh as well.

She smiled and looked down, loving the fact that he didn't regret it, even though she didn't mean that exactly. "I meant do you ever regret marrying me?" She asked quietly.

He was taken back by the question because honestly many times he did regret it. He regretted marrying her because he knew she should have something better than him. She deserved everything he couldn't give her.

"Honestly, sometimes," she looked at him and thought her world was going to break. "Not because of what you're thinking, but because you deserve more."

She felt relief. He'd always thought this and she never knew why. She turned to look at his side and gently tugged on him to turn around. "Chuck, I love you. I love you with all of my heart. I will never not love you." She told him teary eyed.

He stayed silent for a while because he didn't know how to answer the question. He heard the music play from the room of the newly married couple and had an idea. "Dance with me." He said suddenly.

Blair wiped away the last few tears she hoped to shed tonight and looked at him. "What?"

"Come on, we never had our first dance." He said pulling her to the gazebo where he played last night.

"Of course we did. Molly Smith's sweet sixteen, we danced the night away." Blair said while he dragged her to the gazebo.

"I hardly think that counts." He said while pulling her into him.

He smiled down.

She smiled up at him and softly met his lips with hers.

The music was soft, since they were so far away from the place holding the music, but he enjoyed the comfort his wife brought to him. They took to dancing and for once they didn't need words to express their love; for tonight they knew how much they truly meant to one another.


	7. Chapter 7

**IMPORTANT A/N: **Hey my lovely readers!! I know you probably thought this was an update *looks around*! I know I hate it when people do this, I really hate it actually, but I thought it was my duty as the author to inform you what is going on. I am still working on this story, don't even worry about that. Abut a week ago my computer deleted all of my files and I have no more of my writing documents *face goes into depression*! I had most of this story completed and it was deleted. I have the last chapter still saved because I sent it to Court(my beta) so that was luckily saved! I still have to go back and re-write everything else though. Before the accident of deletion, I had this story ending at eight chapters, the seventh was a long one, but now I am thinking to get it out faster for you guys I will make it nine! Maybe, we will have to see though! I know this is horrible for us all *ugh* and I really wish I knew how to get everything back, but I am not a computer person! Hahaha! I just want to thank you all for being so kind and reviewing! I hope also you all are having a wonderful New Year *kiss and hugs*! I will be back as soon as possible with the next chapter! I am hoping next week(I think it's a a holiday next weekend, which means no school, so I think we will be in luck)! Another side comment, depending on the episode this week, it could ruin my mood or make the writing just come out! I hope it does the latter, because last week I was a bawling mess, but I am better now! Okay, enough of me in this long author's note! I will be back as soon as I can! Much love and many kisses!

Love the one that is very sorry for making you al wait so long,

Maddie

**ATTENTION 2: **I am also in the process of deciding whether or not to change my penname! If I do it will go from ClassicBeauty23 to **BlairBass23! That is my name on FanForum and sometimes I just get very confused when I log in so I am thinking I should keep one name hahaha! **

**Again you all are wonderful!!!!!!!! *kisses and hugs***


	8. Chapter 8

The Gift

A/N: Well, how long has it been? I think December? I am sure some of you don't even remember what has happened because I know I had to go back and re-read as well! Haha! So, this chapter is short, but it is kinda a filler for the next chapter, which is sadly the last! But that won't be out till either later this week or next week! I really appreciate everything! The reviews and waiting it out with me! I wish you the best Valentine's day in the world (my favorite holiday) and I hope we all get some good chocolate! I will probably have a little one-shot out for you guys as well! Enjoy and Please Review! I'm off!

A/N 2: I say F Gossip Girl and the writers! CB FOREVER!

Special Dedication: This is dedicated to my lovely Sista and Cherifia! I know it took me forever and you guys stuck it out with me!! *hugs and kisses*

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You have been a rock that I could lean on

You have filled my lonely heart with song

I never could have made this kind of journey all alone

Just beyond that place that they call heaven

We have found a place where we belong

Finally we are home.

-Olivia Newton John

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Something awoke him from his sleep and he would never know what it was. He looked to the bed stand and noticed it was 11:58, twenty-four hours till the moment. He looked to his right and noticed she was still sleeping peacefully, which he was grateful for. He heard a light tapping on his window that intrigued him. He made his way to the window where he noticed Nate leaning against a lamppost. He cursed under his breath and quickly put his coat on.

He made his way outside and turned to Nate. Nate with the same smile he always had on his face. He tried not to say anything he would regret.

"What are you doing here?" He asked Nate.

Nate turned towards him. "Twenty-four hours to go. Any special plans for today?" Nate saw Chuck's face go down.

"She's not going to be there at that time." Chuck told him sternly.

Nate chuckled. "Who do you think you are? She won't be there? She's going to be there and you can't stop her." Nate said with a hint of anger in his voice.

Chuck looked at Nate. Up until now he'd never seen a real problem with Nate, besides the fact he was annoying as hell, but now he was just plain aggravated with him.

"She won't be there, so you can look for another person to torture." Chuck said to him.

Nate put his hands up in defense. "Chuck, look I'm sorry you weren't the husband you should have been, but I gave you a second chance and you agreed to the terms."

He stopped before talking. Was this what it was really about? Him not being the husband he should have been?

"I didn't sign a contract." He said this before Nate could see him weakening.

"Maybe not, but you sure knew what you said."

He sighed. This was his fault. Everything was his fault. He put his hands through his hair. There had to be something, something deeper that even Nate didn't know about.

"She won't be there."

He stared Nate straight in the eye then turned and walked away.

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Blair skipped happily to the town's city tree with the ornament that they had given her. She handed Chuck his and went to the tree. She never realized how much she had missed her hometown until now. All the little things she couldn't get in the city she could get here. Everything that she couldn't get here she definitely could get in the city.

Blair smiled when she finally saw the tree. She turned to Chuck, who was staring down at the ornament. She nudged him.

"Have the perfect place?"

He smirked. "I have an idea. You first though."

She closed her eyes and put her ornament in the place she knew it best fit. Once, she opened her eyes she noticed Chuck putting his next to hers.

"Wait! That's cheating." Blair gave his ornament back to him.

Chuck laughed at her antics. "How is that cheating?"

Blair scoffed. "You have to feel the ornament. You can't just automatically put it by mine."

Chuck didn't know if she was serious or not. "Seriously?"

She nodded.

Chuck went with her. And closed his eyes because he knew her eyes were on him. She held his hand and made sure he didn't peak. He did though, and he still put his right by her because it was the only place it truly belonged.

"Nice spot Bass."

He smiled.

"You too Waldorf."

She rolled her eyes at him teasingly. "So I think it's time we head home. We still have so much to do! Pick out the tree-"

His heart stopped. "What? I like it here-"

"Chuck we can't spend Christmas here. Don't you want to spend it at home?"

He hesitated. "I mean-"

"Rules are rules and I think I get to decide what we do." She smirked at him.

He cursed silently.

Before one more word could form she was dragging him back to the Bed and Breakfast to pack their bags and go home. He tried to keep his pace up to hers, but his heart was dragging him down.

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Chuck made his way down the stairs of the Bed and Breakfast. He was inwardly dreading going home. What was he going to do when they got there and all their time away was wasted? What was he going to do to keep her away from her fate? What was he going to do to present the gift he had yet to achieve?

"Chuck Bass."

Chuck looked up from his mindset. Jack Smith was standing before him. His stomach instantly turned.

"Jack, nice to see you." Chuck took his hand. The two men shook while, Mr. Curlington smiled at the two young gentlemen.

"What brings you to Mahone Bay?" Chuck asked while he set his bags next to the door.

Jack smirked. "Where is a better place to learn business then from the hometown of the great Chuck Bass?"

Chuck nodded his head. "Good plan I guess."

"I'm so sad to see you leave Mr. Bass." Mr. Curlington came into the conversation.

"Oh here with lovely Miss Vanessa?" Jack looked at him with anger in his eyes.

Blair's heart stopped. Coming down the stairs she had heard the whole conversation and she couldn't of been more hurt. All these past days had been to make up for something he had done with another woman. She couldn't even stand to be in the same room with him.

Chuck looked up to see Blair make her way down the stairs. Jack was in confusion along with Mr. Curlington. Chuck grabbed her arm.

"Blair! Wait! Stop!"

Blair turned to face him. "Get your hands off of me!"

She walked as fast as she could outside to get away from him. How could the man that used to be your best friend, turn into your hated enemy?

"Blair! It's not what you think!"

The wind hit her face when she turned to look at him. She wanted to say something, but she couldn't form one thing to say to him. So her body did the one thing that it knew would hurt him. She let one single tear fall before she walked away from him.

His heart dropped. This was the final straw. He'd pushed her way to many times. He'd finally did the one thing that you weren't supposed to ever do. He hurt as of his body wouldn't function without her much like he felt when she'd been hit.

He stood there and watched her leave in the cab. He had no idea why he hadn't of gone after her. He was to in shock and the cold wind was making him feel as if she would never forgive him.

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He couldn't stand here much longer. She's taken her bags with her and he grabbed his to get away from the place he didn't even know why he came back to. He walked a couple miles and that's when he heard foot steps behind him.

"Chuck my man. That was an epic failure." Nate laughed out loud.

Chuck rolled his eyes. Of course it had to be the one man he still despised.

"Not talking I see."

Chuck whipped his head around. "That's right I'm not talking to you. You've ruined my life."

Nate scrunched his nose. "I gave you a second chance."

"Yea, a second chance to have more roadblocks than before."

Chuck kept walking because he could care less what Nate had to say.

"You say that now, but would you have really wanted your wife to have died with a broken heart?"

He stopped for a moment, because that was probably one of his greatest fears. That his wife would die with a broken heart. Somehow though he knew she might still die with a broken heart if he wasn't careful.

"Go home." Nate told him.

"Why I thought you wanted me to make sure Blair was at the scene" Chuck scoffed.

Nate shook his head. "You see that's why we're different."

How did he get so unlucky with angel picking?

"Yea, I'm real you're not." Chuck scolded him.

"You don't believe she loves you when she clearly does. Also, I believe you know what the gift is, you just haven't seen it." Nate said seriously.

Chuck didn't respond because he knew Nate had a point. Nate smiled to himself. He'd finally gotten through his big head.

"Go."

Chuck nodded and gave Nate a courtesy nod while he made his way to the train station.

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"You think you could go any faster?" Chuck chided the cab driver.

He'd been in New York for five minutes and was now on a race against time. He ran to the first cab he saw open and now he was stuck here waiting in a line of traffic.

"It's Christmas Eve." The cab driver said annoyed.

Chuck rolled his eyes. He pulled out his wallet and gave the man the fare.

He looked around the streets and realized it was larger than life. His head was muddled with thoughts and he couldn't even begin to think where to go. He turned to the street that he knew led to his apartment.

He walked the distance and opened the door. Running up the stairs only made his heart beat faster. He swung the door open to find the lamp on. He looked around to be welcomed with no Blair.

He ran his hands through his hair. "Fuck!" He screamed to the empty house.

His head then snapped back when he got an idea. He grabbed the house keys and made his way to his next destination. The weather was becoming more bitter and it was going on six o'clock. He was in a mess, a huge mess that was going to take a miracle to overcome.

That's when he saw just what he was looking for, the North Ridge skating rink. He remembered the times she would come and skate and look so free on the ice. He'd missed that side of Blair. His gut told him she would be here.

And his gut was right. There she was in all the beauty, that was Blair Bass. She was leaning against the rail and watching the people skate. God, he had to make this better.

He took slow strides and he knew she could sense his presence.

"Nice night to be skating."

She nodded. She had made her way home in no time. The train ride had consisted of her crying her eyes out and thinking the worst of her husband.

"Blair, look-"

"I don't want to talk about it." She turned her head slightly.

He sighed and pursed his lips. He opened his mouth one last time to get out everything he wanted to say.

"Blair, nothing happened. Nothing would ever happen with any girl. Nothing has ever happened. I love you. I have always loved you and _only _you. You're everything to me."

He turned her around slightly to bring her into his body.

She didn't hold back and before to long she was in his arms. He kissed her temple. "Blair you have to believe me."

He didn't care if he was pleading. This could have been his last chance to make everything right.

She looked up at him and knew he was telling the absolute truth. She brought her eyes up to his and never wavered them. His eyes stayed on her chocolate brown ones and he took his hands and cupped her face.

"Only you."

She closed her eyes and brought her lips to meet his.

He kissed her gently and broke the kiss when he thought of _it_.

"You need to skate."

Before she could even respond she saw her husband go and bring her ice skates. She blinked at him. "What?"

"Please." He almost begged. "This could be it."

She hesitated before he pushed the ice skates into her arms.

He ran out onto the ice and stopped the man cleaning the ice for the night.

"Excuse me, sir. I need the ice." Chuck looked serious.

"Dude, it's Christmas I have a family to get home to." The guy didn't seem pleasant.

Chuck sighed. "This is my wife's Christmas present."

Chuck knew the man didn't know the significance of the statement.

The man rolled his eyes. "Five minutes."

Chuck thanked the man and quickly made his way to Blair. His smile never fading.

-----------------------------------------

He watched as she glided on the ice. She looked happy for once and he couldn't of been happier himself. He looked down at his watch, exactly 8:00. He turned his head to the side because he already knew Nate was there.

Chuck smiled. "Pretty good?"

Nate nodded.

"Looks like nothing happens then."

"You think?"

Chuck smiled. "I proved I loved her and gave her the gift."

Nate laughed. "You think this is the gift?"

Chuck looked at him confused. "She loves skating and she knows I love her. How is that _not_ the gift?"

Nate shook his head. "You still don't get it do you?"

"Nate! She knows I love her! Isn't that the gift she needed?" Chuck snapped.

"Look, you have four hours to figure it out. I trust you will."

Chuck glanced back at Nate and, then back at his wife.

Four hours was all he could think.

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Blair took Chuck's hand because she could tell he was nervous about something. She figured that since they were back in the city he would become more Chuck like. She hoped she could do anything in her power to make him not be that, Chuck.

"What's wrong?" She could always tell when he was upset.

They were trying to find their Christmas tree, which hadn't happened yet. He shook his head to signal nothing was wrong, but he was always a bad liar. He remembered when he had seen her a couple days ago, when she had their Christmas tree. He also remembered being selfish and telling her that he had a business trip. One thing he still regretted.

Blair took in her husbands state and knew that she should just focus on the Christmas tree.

"I like this one." Blair poked at Chuck.

Chuck nodded. "I think it's perfect." Anything to make her happy, he thought.

He made sure she was sure about the tree before taking it off its stand and setting it down on the snow covered pavement.

8:30.

"Blair is there anything else you need or want for Christmas?" He pleaded desperately.

He couldn't think of any other way to ask her. He didn't care if it sounded needy because this is what he needed to keep sane, in a sense.

Blair smiled at her husband. "Chuck I have everything I need."

"Come on there has to be something."

She stopped for a moment before they continued walking.

"Is there anything you need or want?" She took his hands.

He looked down at her. "Nah, I have everything."

She knew this might not be the time or the place, but she had been waiting to tell him. "I know a Christmas present we both got."

He looked at her questioningly.

"I'm pregnant."

She's been waiting and wanting to tell him, but knew he could take it as bad news. She had wanted to have a family more than anything and she only wanted one with Chuck. She looked in his eyes and saw that he had started to smile.

He was genuinely smiling because he couldn't think of anything better at the moment. After all the times of not wanting kids, he would never expect to feel how he was feeling right now.

"Are you happy?" She asked softly.

He kissed her and then took her into a hug. He kissed her neck.

"So happy." He whispered to her.

He sat her down and then pulled her into the side.

Chuck was so lost in his _family_ that he didn't even realize the clock was still ticking.

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**Special Note: Well my loves! There might be some spelling errors in that, seeing as I have a huge Biology test tomorrow! But I just had to get this out! Seriously, I just want you to know! How deeply sorry I am! God, I am so sorry! I know this chapter might seemed contrived and "oh she just needed to fill it up with words" which I guess might be the case, but I promise the last chapter is the chapter that wraps everything in one! And I def. think it is one of my bests! So keep that in mind and review and tell me what you think! I love you guys! *kisses***

**Also, to everyone who reviews, I promise to eventually reply to everything! I love replying to everyone's reviews! Always make my day so much better! Like you have no idea! Thank you! Love, Maddie!**


	9. Chapter 8 Part 1

The Gift

A/N: Hey guys! I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day! I am glad you all enjoyed the last chapter! This is **NOT **the final chapter! This is only part 1 of the final chapter! Keep that in mind because I know you will kill me if you think this is it! XD!! I hope you all enjoy! The last part should be out soon! Also, I have posted my new story called, One, it is a chapter fic, a very short chapter fic, but I think you will find it complicated and ever so lovely at the same time! So I def. think you guys should go check it out! Also, the lyrics for this chapter and the next are The Gift...kinda shows what the gift truly is...! So without further interruptions..Enjoy and Please Review!

* * *

Winter snow is falling down

Children laughing all around

Lights are turning on

Like a fairy tale come true

Sitting by the fire we made

You're the answer when I prayed

I would find someone

And baby I found you

All I want is to hold you forever

All I need is you more every day

You saved my heart

From being broken apart

You gave your love away

And I'm thankful every day

For the gift

-Jim Brickman

* * *

11:38.

He had exactly twenty minutes to do something, to change something. He'd never been one to do something for someone else because that was basically pointless to him in some ways. He looked around the room were their belongings where and he felt a sense of dread. He couldn't cry in front of her, no that was not him. He couldn't even bare to look at her, for if he did all he would want to do was be with her and never let her go.

He had finally made things right with her. He finally gave her the things she had dreamt of for so long. He'd given her what most people couldn't, but she had also given him something that he could not let go of. She'd given _them_ a child. He couldn't have asked for anything else even if he tried. She had truly given him something that was better than what he could ever present to her. He was too dense to see it before, but she had been pregnant the first time she'd been hit. This made his heart swell with pain.

"Chuck do you want some of this apple pie from the store? It looks good."

He was taken away from his thoughts and brought back down to his crashing reality. He looked to the clock once more. 11:40.

"No thanks. Blair, sweetie why don't you come back in the bedroom." He yelled back to her.

The phone started ringing and he immediately felt dread. He heard her small voice talking to someone. Some ahh's and ooh's is all he could hear.

He paced the room. He couldn't let her go; no matter what Nate said he was not letting _them_ go out to be taken away from him. All the years of her being with him and this would be it. He'd given her everything he could possibly think of and it still wasn't enough to save her.

The small shadow of her came in sight and he thought he was going to lose it. He noticed her going to her closet and he couldn't have been more confused.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Small crisis, Lily, Ms. Brady's dog got out again and she asked me to go get her." She told him while pulling her sweater over her head.

His eyes widened. He knew this was Nate's way of getting her out of the house. He would not let Nate win. He would have to go get the damn dog.

"It's freezing outside. I'll go." Chuck said pulling his slacks up.

She couldn't help but laugh. "Chuck dogs hate you. Remember when that one bit you at the pound?" 

He glared at her. Not because he remembered the hard bite, but because she was being stubborn about this. Why couldn't he just get the dog and not have her whine about it. He put his shoes on right as she was exiting their doorway.

He tied the last lace and ran and accidently almost pushed her into the wall.

"Chuck what are you doing?" Blair asked while she put her heavy coat on.

He grabbed the keys out of her hands and started to put his coat on as well.

"You're not going." He told her firmly.

"Chuck I have to go. I will be back in 5 minutes."

"You have to let her go, Chuck." He heard Nate say.

He looked over to Nate and wanted to punch him, like so many times. Instead he carried a stoic expression that did not waver.

"No I won't let her." He said to Nate for some reason he couldn't explain.

Blair looked at him. "Who are you talking to?"

Chuck went back to her voice instantly. "Please don't go." He begged.

She looked at him with her caring eyes. "I will be back I promise. Stay here where it's all warm. I love you."

She brought his face down to hers and kissed his soft lips.

"You have to let her go Chuck." He looked to Nate's gaze.

Nate held his gaze and he couldn't look away. He let Blair out of his grasp while still looking at Nate. He'd just let her go out to be met with her inevitable fate. He looked at Nate until something tore his eyes away and he looked at the door that his wife had just closed.

He knew there was panic in his eyes. He strode to the door and wrestled with the doorknob. It wouldn't budge and he let out a small grunt.

"Open the door Nate!" He yelled at him.

"No." He simply said.

He looked at Nate who still held the same expression as before. He looked into his eyes and couldn't read them. He looked at the clock that was in the kitchen.

11:53.

"Nate please, I will give anything." He pleaded with the him.

Nate looked at Chuck to see if he really knew the meaning of give _anything_.

Chuck looked at Nate at that very moment and knew what he'd been saying from the very start. He tried the knob once more and it opened without trying a second time. His mind was telling him one thing while his body was running to save her.

He passed the street corner where memories haunted his thoughts day and night. His mind was becoming a blur. He had to get to her before time ran out.

That's when he saw her. He saw the car, the one that hit her the previous time.

He ran into the street and went to her. He pushed her out of the way in an instant. He waited for the car to come. He knew this was stupid. He could have easily gone with her to the side, but the reality was he knew what he had to do.

She felt his hands push her to the side and she went down into the trash bags. She heard a wheels squeak and she wanted to look away from the scene she knew was before her. She stood up carefully from the ground and panic filled her features.

"Chuck!"

She ran to him as fast as she could. Her knees went to the ground and she placed her hand on his bruising temple.

"Sweetie," she pulled away for a minute to look at an unknown man approaching them.

"Is he okay?" The man asked frantically.

He could hear her voice plus another man's voice. He tried to open his eyes for her. He tried as hard as he could, but he failed her.

"Call 911." She said to the man frantically. "Chuck." She feared moving him incase of injuries she knew were to be expected.

He tried once more for her. He couldn't go without seeing her one last time. The headache he was experiencing now was nothing compared to what his heart was feeling. He felt her hand go to his shoulder and ever so gently squeeze it. He gulped at not being with her, not seeing her. He had enough strength to open his eyes one last time.

She looked down into the eyes that had kept her save for so long. That's when she saw it, she saw the look of helplessness in his eyes, as if he knew this was the end.

"Chuck you can't leave me. I need you."

He wanted to tell her everything that he had to do was for her, but he feared what would happen if he did. He heard what she said and his heart went out her.

She saw a tear escape from his right eye. She put her hand over her mouth so he wouldn't see the sobs that now poured out.

He looked at her in the eyes for one last time because he didn't have anymore strength for her, even though he tried. He hoped she could see in his eyes that he loved her because that is all he could give her right now.

She saw the medics finally pull up and she looked at him for what she knew was the last time until he would be taken over by the medics.

He looked up at her and he wanted to smile so badly at her, but for went it because it all hurt too much. He closed his eyes and he heard her feint cry before his world went black.

* * *

11:58

To most people it was just a time, but to her it meant to much more. To her, it was the marked moment, the exact moment that the love of her life had been hit. He'd been hit by a car, and it was the moment she knew her life would mean nothing if he weren't here with her.

She looked at the clock and only an hour had passed and there was still no word on his condition. She thought about all their times together as if it all suddenly came back to her. When she ran from him when she heard about Vanessa she knew he didn't do anything. She knew in her heart he would never do anything to hurt her.

She rested her head against the wall and tried to calm herself. She'd been able to ride in the ambulance with him. She wished she had for went that though seeing him in such pain made her want to break inside. The one time she could remember seeing him in such pain, but not physical, just emotional, was when his father passed. She remembered him shutting everyone out, including her. She sighed at the thought.

When she'd told them _they _were pregnant she had seen a smile on his face that she hadn't seen in years. She didn't want to tell him at first, for fear of him running away from it, but he had been supportive in everyway. She clutched her stomach for reassurance. She couldn't do this alone, she still wasn't even sure if it would last. Miscarriage could still happen and she knew without him she wouldn't make it. He had to come back to her.

She looked to the entrance of the hospital and saw a young couple come in. She saw a man with a bandage around his hand and the young lady helping him in. She smiled at the couple knowing they were younger than her and Chuck. The thought of him immediately sent her mind into a blur once more.

"Blair Bass?" A woman asked the crowd in the waiting room.

Blair stood up and went to the woman that she presumed was Chuck's surgeon. "How is he?"

The doctor gave her a look. "Let's go talk in here."

The woman led Blair into a small room. "How is he?" She asked once more.

"Mrs. Bass your husband's injuries were very severe." Blair took her sweater sleeve and pulled it up so she could wipe away the tears. "We did everything we could." Blair gulped. "I'm so sorry. There isn't much time." She finished.

Her face went blank at the words. She felt numb. She felt like she was suffocating. "There must be something. Please-" She pleaded.

The doctor couldn't say more to the woman that was breaking right in front of her. "You can go see him now."

"No." She cried even more.

The doctor gave her a soft smile before telling her the room number and leaving.

She stayed there for a few moments because she couldn't see him. She couldn't see her husband, her _Chuck_ dying. She put her hand over her mouth because the sobs were not stopping. She slid down the glass door in fear. He husband was dying all because he pushed her out of the way. She stayed there for a few moments before she got up and made the long walk to the room that she knew would bring her heartache.


End file.
